Vanilla Coke
seems to be all the rage these days, and despite what many people might
think it’s nothing new. The practice of adding vanilla syrup to your
fountain Coke is decades old, and you can still get this done at your local
Waffle House restaurant, that is if you have a local Waffle House
Restaurant. I’ll do you one better, though. How about vanilla in your
beer? Before you stop reading, let me tell you that vanilla works great
in stouts and porters. It’s unique flavor lends itself nicely to combination
with dark, nutty roasty notes found in those beers, just as it works well
with the dark nutty flavors found in cola.
In the past, I have greatly enjoyed vanilla stouts from the Hangtown brewery
in California and Gravity Brewing (RIP) in Pennsylvania. These are just a
few, of course, of the many such beers available, and they all exhibit a
wonderfully creamy character that only vanilla can impart. They were,
however, ales, and that makes them a bit different from the current beer
under the microscope, Lawson Creek Vanilla Stout.
That’s because Lawson Creek’s Vanilla Stout is a lager. Huh? A lagered
stout? Well, why not; after all lagered porters have been around for a long
time. Admittedly, I was a bit skeptical at first, but far be it from me to
pass up a new beer, so I bought a six-pack of this mysterious brew even
though I’d never even heard of the brewery (a fact which, in my case, only
tends to increase the odds that I’ll buy the beer).
Lawson Creek is based in Cold Spring, Minnesota, former home of the
now-defunct Cold Spring Brewing Company, famous for their Cold
Spring Export (I’ve had this years ago, I’m suddenly feeling very old).
They brew several beers including a pale ale, a red and a honey wheat.
Lawson Creek Vanilla Stout pours to a dark brown color with a light
creamy head formation and an assertive vanilla nose. The palate is somewhat
light for a stout with a thinner mouthfeel than one might expect for that
style. There is a fair amount of roastiness however combined with sweet
nutty malt notes, a bit of chewy caramel, and of course some strong notes of
vanilla. More of that roasty bitterness can be discerned in the nicely
balanced finish.
A nice dessert beer, perfect with a dish of spicy vanilla ice cream with
specks of vanilla bean in it. Lawson Creek Vanilla Stout is also very
reasonably priced, I picked up a six-pack at my local Kroger supermarket for
an astonishing $4.48, about the same price as Budweiser.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For
reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.