Brecken ridge Brewery Vanilla Porter
“Deep in the jungles of Papua New Guinea and Madagascar grows the perfect ingredient for an extraordinary Porter brewed in Colorado…” These would be the ever descriptive words of Breckenridge Brewery describing one of their craft creations. And what craft creation would it be describing you ask? How about a hint, the “perfect ingredient” mentioned above is vanilla beans and from what beer connoisseurs know about beer, we must be talking about some sort of porter. And that is EXACTLY what we are talking about, Breckenridge Brewery’s Vanilla Porter.
This Vanilla Porter comes in with 16 IBU’s and an ABV of 5.4% and is brewed out of Breckenridge Brewer located in none other than Breckenridge, Colorado. The brewery opened its doors in 1990 and is the 3rd oldest brewery in the state. In order to keep up with the high demand, Breckenridge moved from location to location as they began to expand at a rapid rate.
Eventually, in 2015, Breckenridge Brewery moved to a 12 –acre stretch of land that was once a carnation farm. The farm-inspired campus features a new 100 barrel brewhouse, barrel-aging room, and Farm House restaurant. Their warparound porch offers beautiful views of the Rocky Mountains as you enjoy your craft creation amidst the serene scenery. And if you are looking for less of a relaxing vibe, Breckenridge offers bocce ball, fire pits and corn hole as you live life to the fullest with a cold brew in hand. Richard Squire, founder of Breckenridge Brewery, wanted to ski all day and drink great beer at night. So, in order to accomplish this dream, he opened hisfirst brewpub in Breckenridge, Colorado in February 1990. Talk about life goals!!
Now onto the beer itself!! A vanilla bean infused porter is a spin on the traditional chocolate aspect of most porters. A lot of the vanilla porters out there are hit and miss, and I am fortunate enough to say Breckenridge’s Vanilla Porter is most definitely a hit! This Vanilla Porter pours a deep mahogany hue with minimal khaki-beige head which dissipates quickly into a thin film layer. Immediately upon the pour, the vanilla bean aroma jumps out of the glass and right into the nose. Wonderful sweet vanilla beans entwined with roasted malts with a bready character and subtle toffee fuse together to create an enticing aroma beckoning for a sip.
Fortunately, the aroma of the beer matches with the flavor of the Vanilla Porter. Originally, we were hesitant with the heavy vanilla bean aroma; at times, the flavor of a beer doesn’t deliver on what the aroma presents, leaving the beer connoisseur disappointed. However, this was not the case for Breckenridge’s Vanilla Porter. Notes of vanilla beans, subtle coffee, roasted malt and caramel envelop the palate. This smooth medium bodied porter has a moderate amount of carbonation with a sweet vanilla bean finish.
Most food pairings for porters will be in regard to the chocolate aspect, so the BeerTv team had to do some deep web digging to find a vanilla porter food pairing. Breckenridge Vanilla Porter will pair well with dark beefy or venison stews, grilled burgers with mushrooms, caramelized onions, and blue cheese, lasagna with hot Italian sausage, and chocolate peanut butter cookies. And for those individuals feeling a little wild and adventurous, you can find a recipe online for a Vanilla Porter Beeramisu which would be an obvious perfect pairing.
Our BeerTv food pairing choice are Graham Crackers S’mores. The sweetness of the honey in the graham cracker will mingle extremely well with the vanilla beans in the porter while the creamy vanilla marshmallows will further the sweetness and smooth texture. The S’more itself is a unique comparison using chocolate to contrast the Porter’s vanilla beans while the marshmallows and graham cracker provide compliments in regards sweetness and mouthfeel.
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