I don’t seem to find much craft beer from Kentucky. Way back in 1991 I visited the Oldenberg brewery in Fort Mitchell (just outside Cincinnati) and immediately fell in love with their Oldenberg Premium Verum, a German-style pilsner. Since then and now, though, the beers of only a few Kentucky breweries have come across my path. So, upon visiting Wild Hare Brewing recently in Spring Hill, TN and finding Country Boy Shotgun Wedding Brown Ale Aged on Vanilla Beans on tap, I purchased a growler to take back home to Georgia.

Being the first time I’ve tried Country Boy beer, I’ll let the brewery introduce themselves to me and to you:

Country Boy Brewing was founded in 2012 by three native Kentuckians with a passion for great craft beer. Country Boy prides itself on making minimally processed beers with high quality, real ingredients. Their passion for great beer shines through their core brands, Cougar Bait American Blonde Ale and Shotgun Wedding Vanilla Brown Ale. Their recent expansion to Georgetown, KY with the largest production brewery in the state will allow them to can their popular Cliff Jumper IPA and Halfway Home Pale ale, in addition to several seasonal offerings.

I’m not so sure what they mean by “minimally processed”. Sounds like a gimmick to me; most craft beer is only processed as much as it needs to be. Barley has to be malted, kilned, perhaps further roasted, mashed in at the brewery; hops usually have to be dried and at times pelletized, mixed with the wort and the who batch boiled, then fermented, conditioned and bottled.

Anyway, Country Boy says Shotgun Wedding is made with Caramel 120, Chocolate, Carapils and 2-row malts, flaked oats, and Columbus and Willamette hops. It has an alcohol content of 5.5% by volume with 24 IBUs. It sells for $8.99 a six-pack in cans.

Country Boy Shotgun Wedding Brown Ale Aged on Vanilla pours to a dark brown color with a big frothy head formation and a soft nutty malt nose. Taking a sip, the beer is deep and rich with flavors of dry roasted nuts and cookie malts, a hint of chocolate but not the vanilla I’m expecting. As the beer warms I get only a faint, faint hint of it, though the finish is warm and dry and I like the beer overall. It even seems a tad boozy.

Not a bad brown ale, malty and not really hoppy except to balance, but points off for the missing vanilla. Untappd says the vanilla beans are bourbon-soaked, though I don’t see that mentioned on the brewery website.

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