Founders Vanilla Porter

Review Date 1/19/2023 By John Staradumsky

  Style:  Porter   Brewery: Founders   Country: USA   State: Michigan   $ Per OZ: $.17 (B), $.33 (D)   ABV: 6.5%

Founders Vanilla Porter! How have we never met before? I’m sure I don’t know but it’s true; we haven’t. Praise be to Taco Mac for rectifying that situation. Founders beers are featured as Beers of the Month for January, 2024, you see, and Founders Vanilla Porter was the first of those four spotlighted brews that I tried.

It was a Monday evening (double credits!) when I arrived at Taco Mac. It was also Martin Luther King Day, a very important holiday, though I had had to work it. After work, I decided, I’m headed to Taco Mac, and a short Uber ride later, there I was. The rich, roasty, vanilla laced Founders Vanilla Porter in my Chancellor Mug was just the thing to refresh and sustain me after a hard day’s work.

Founders says:

No fireplace? No problem. Let us bring the cozy cabin vibes to you with Vanilla Porter. Brewed with both chocolate and Munich malts and a dash of vanilla extract; this winter warmer pairs perfectly with your favorite sweater and a pile of comfy blankets. With hints of caramelized sugar and coffee on the back end, being snowbound never tasted so good.

Founders Vanilla Porter has an alcohol content of 6.5% by volume with 45 IBUs. I paid $7.51 for my 23-ounce draft mug at Taco Mac. Total Wine sells it for $23.99 a 12-pack of 12-ounce cans in Alpharetta, Georgia. The beer is an October through December seasonal according to Founders.

My mug of Founders Vanilla Porter arrived a jet-black color with a light head of tan foam and a nose of vibrant chocolate and vanilla. The beer has smooth medium body, is rich roasty, coffeeish, and has a heavy presence of vanilla and chocolate pudding. The vanilla pops nicely, too, in the dry roasty finish.

I very much enjoyed this beer, and I’m glad I got to try it. Looking forward to drinking it again, and I think you will enjoy it, too. How to style it? It’s a spiced ale, yes, because that’s what vanilla is. Spice. Still, I think the porter character is the defining element here, so that’s how I’ll peg it. I enkjhoyed this beer while mulling over what to have for dinner, looking at the burger menu. I ended up going with wings. As I almost always do here.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??