Kentucky Vanilla Barrel Cream Ale

Alltech Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co. makes a lot of barrel aged beers. I love barrel aged beers so this should be a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, I have yet to have anything from them I really enjoyed. The most disappointed I have been trying one of their beers was the first time I tasted their BA Barleywine. It was thin, lacked depth of flavor, and since I was in Tampa it took away from precious time drinking Jai Alai & Red Tocobaga from Cigar City. Their products make it to NY but I rarely purchase them. I keep waiting for one of my beer enthusiast friends to tell me I have to try one of their beers. That day has still yet to come. In fact I have heard that for the price, try anything but their stuff. I have stuck to this up until the last time I visited a bottle shop. It was there that I came across their Vanilla Barrel Cream Ale. For some reason, I could not pass up the opportunity to try it. It just sounded like a beer I wanted to like, I just wondered if I would.

As I poured Vanilla Barrel Cream Ale, I could not help but notice its similarities to cream soda. It was the same color, had a fizzy white head and had a massive amount of vanilla in the aroma. Due to my love of cream soda, I began to get a bit more optimistic about this beer. There was also a fair amount of graininess(corn) to the aroma as well, with a touch of biscuit. From the aroma alone, I could not tell that this beer was barrel aged. The flavor of the beer pretty much matched the nose. It was very grainy, with a lot of vanilla sweetness and a touch of biscuit. The graininess carried into a finish that balanced the sweetness of the vanilla, with a welcomed amount of hop bitterness, an occasional touch of whiskey and some oak spice. The barrel aging is only slightly there but you really have to look for it. The finish also leaves a fairly unpleasant grainy, bitter aftertaste that seemed to only grow in strength the further I got into the glass.

I was not disappointed I purchased the Vanilla Barrel Cream Ale. I am happy for the opportunity to try it. However, I can safely say that I will not be purchasing it again. Everything seemed a touch muddled here and nothing really flowed together. Also, what is the point of barrel aging this beer for 2 months if there is practically no presence of it in the flavor? That just seems to me like an irresponsible business decision on the brewery's part. I am fairly certain this beer would taste close to the same with or without that short time in a barrel. Either way, it is nothing that special.

Overall rating: 2.5/5


Rating Scale:
1. Repugnant and undrinkable
2. Acceptable but forgettable
3. Good, worth a purchase
4. Excellent, a step above the norm
5. Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!