7 Incredible Barrel-Aged Vanilla Stouts
Photo by BK Beer Guy
You can’t step foot into a bottle shop without stumbling over a dozen different vanilla barrel-aged stouts. It’s a popular style, particularly as we officially move into the holiday season. With so many options to choose from, how do you weed out the beers that are in a class of their own? You could gather all of the vanilla barrel-aged stouts in a row and then choose one based on its label. Or you could read this list. Because we’ve picked seven vanilla stouts aged in whiskey barrels that we think should be on your wish list during the holidays.
Bourbon County Vanilla Rye
Goose Island Beer Co.
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Goose Island pulled us in with their 2010 Bourbon County Vanilla Stout and the 2014 Vanilla Rye brought us back. Aged in rye whiskey barrels with Mexican and Madagascar vanilla beans, this stout clocks in at 13.6% but you would never know it. Two years later the mouthfeel continues to be a vanilla marshmallow bomb leaving us wanting more. Please, Goose Island bring this beer back, we can’t wait another two years for the next vanilla variant!
Derivation 6
Side Project Brewing
Photo by: bkbeerguy / Instagram
After the high praise and reviews earned by Derivation 2, which featured Ugandan vanilla beans, we had high expectations for blend 6, which also includes Ugandan vanilla beans, but with cocoa nibs and cinnamon to boot. We have to say this beer completely blew us away. At 15%, this thick masterpiece pours like motor oil, coating the glass, and as it warms the vanilla bean takes center stage, finishing with cinnamon on the backend.
Fundamental Observation (FO)
Bottle Logic Brewing
Photo by: brother_kenneth / Instagram
The 2015 release of FO changed how many beer nerds viewed stouts from Bottle Logic and pushed the brewery into the upper tier of stout brewers in the country. They say sequels are never as good as the original, but even with heightened expectations, Bottle Logic made sure to deliver. The vanilla in the 2016 batch is tamer than its predecessor, making a more balanced beer, and keeping this one towards the top of our list.
