Rating: 5.45/5

Vanilla Noir by Prairie Artisan Ales is a 11.5% ABV Imperial Stout aged in oak whiskey barrels with vanilla beans.

Label:
Made by people who truly care from Oklahoma with love.
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This is the first ever, Prairie beer I have ever had. To top off the greatness too, my friend Aaron from www.beermetaldude.com, was kind enough to donate for us a nice batch of their special beer for the site. Oak aged Whiskey with Vanilla beans will be the first I try and the Noir will be the next in line for sure. For now, let us check this one out!

Aromas:
Dark chocolate, campfire smoke, whiskey, marshmallow smores, sour wine grapes, strong oak, pecan pie, dark fruit raisins, vanilla, caramel, toffee, flan hints, brown sugar, BBQ glazed ham, leather, tobacco and oatmeal cookies.

Flavors:
Campfire smoke, dark chocolate, vanilla, rich oak, sour wine grape hints, marshmallow, graham cracker smores, dark fruit raisins, rye bread, tobacco, leather, brown sugar, BBQ hone glazed ham, flan, caramel, pecan pie, hazelnut hint, roasted coffee grain hints, oatmeal cookies, molasses, licorice and anise.

Aftertaste:
Rich oak, vanilla, caramel, dark chocolate, earthy notes, bourbon character, campfire smoke
Partial amount of alcohol in the taste but does not detract from the flavor. Sipping drinkability, pitch black appearance, full mouth feel almost syrupy.

Overall:
A truly smokey exceptional take on the style. Lots of oak and smokey goodness border-lining an sour stout like the great Madrugada Obscura. The Whiskey and vanilla beans keep everything in place so it doesn’t feel like a rauchbier and still maintaining a whiskey barrel character. In fact, the flavors actually compliment the whiskey very well. Feels right at home for this one. I am not sure what kind of oak was used in this but the oak was very different in flavor. Really complex and delicious stuff and highly recommended find.

Anime Corner:
Omoto Mitsuki from Tsukumo no Kanade was paired with Vanilla Noir because I wanted to showcase the monster in the label attacking the chicken. In this case, Omoto is the monster and her unleashing the demons is the vanilla, oak and dark fruit flavors onto your palate. The sourness and oak that comes from the beer is represented by her evil twisted gaze but the sweet side of the beer is how innocent she looks. Looks can be deceiving though as her power are at 11% ABV. Take care with this one.

Sources:
http://i.imgur.com/lGZmMxX.jpg