Stoney Creek Original Vanilla Porter

World Beer Cup 2000 & 2002 Bronze Medal winner. This traditional English porter is brewed with Madagascar vanilla beans.

3.3

195 reviews

Detroit, United States

Community reviews

3.8 This beer offers an aroma infused with chocolate, malt, sour mash, and smoke. It is black in color with a thick cream colored head and good lacing. This hearty beer introduces itself with a robust chocolate flavor that has hints of nuts and sour mash in the background. A smoky taste is produced in the aftertaste.

3.7 Pours a very dark brown with beige head. Chocolate aroma, as well as vanilla. Sweet taste with notes of caramel, vanilla, chocolate, and roasted malts. Damn fine porter.

3.2 Bottle... Murky, almost black ale with burnt orange highlights and a small, creamy, beige head. The nose is of an old-fashioned vanilla cola with hints of chocolate and coffee. Light bodied and fizzy. Finishes short and crisp with just a hint of vanilla. Thanks go out to OhioDad for the bottle.

2.3 Strong aroma, I do not smell vanilla at all, more bitter than I expected, more of a coffee quality than vanilla, I keep expecting it to get better, but it doesn’t

2.8 On tap I think this is from the newer brewery and not atwater. Pours black with off white to tan head. Huge aroma of vanilla up front . Compared to previous batches years past i would say it almost smells like extract. Flavor seemed to be a bit hin than in previous versions. a ton of vanilla flavor up front with some malt roastiness to follow minor notes of chocolate and molasses . After years of drinkin this particular brew I would say it has gone downhill a bit.

4.0 Tan head over a deep near black brown pour. Sweet malty scen with some roasted nut. Smokey nut chocolate taste with just a hint of the vanilia. Extremely pleasant coffee/vanilla aftertaste. I would love to session this (multiple times)

2.9 Dark, dark red pour with a light tan head. Huge sweet vanilla aroma. A dominant vanilla flavor with a darker beer in the backround makes this beer smooth...but in a very perculiar way. Strange mouth feel, not bad, but too much vanilla I think.

4.0 Pours black with a mid-sized light brown creamy and inviting head.A toasted aroma and the vanilla hit your noise upon first smelling. The vanilla is also upfront and heavy upon first entering your mouth and stays prominent after swallowing. The carbonation level is rather soft but it is a bit tingly on the tongue. No hop flavor or aroma is evident at all...it’s all about the vanilla in this one. The experience gets much better after drinking about half a glass as you settle in the complexity of flavors. Overall a great tasting beer but not one I think I could drink alot of at one sitting.

3.3 Bottle. Pours black. Not much head or carbonation. Slight hint of vanilla in the aroma. I think this one needs a bit more body and dark roasted malt to balance out the vanilla and sweetness, which is overdone. Still worth a try and tolerable. I like it better than Breckenridge Vanilla Porter.

2.2 Moderate viscosity, opaque and inky brown in color with a thin, crusty white wrung around the edges of the stem glass. Rich, heavenly aroma of white chocolate, Madagascar vanilla, vanilla frappucino, almond butter and milk chocolate. Flavor proceeds in an amplified fashion, and it’s all downhill from here. Make no doubt, there’s a vanilla presence, almost like taking a spoonful of vanilla extract and chasing it with chocolate chip cookie batter. Repugnant sweetness. Vanilla extract transpires into a cunningly retched alcohol presence. Strongly boding lightly on the palate, yet commanding and overbearing in its character traits. To say that we went overboard with the beans and skewed the balance would be a grievous understatement. Finishes like cookie batter with five times too much vanilla extract that just won’t settle no matter how many times you stir it. More than a nip at a time was utter pain. I’ll forever remember this beer. Lord help us all.

3.5 2003 bottle. Dark opaque brown pour. Noticable vanilla aroma with plenty of caramel malt. Chocolate malty flavors, with a lot more vanilla. Some touch of coffee, and a little aged. Not too bad.

3.1 This looks like motor oil that has been used for 1500 miles. Aroma of quaker instant oatmeal and tastes like vanilla as it says. Not bad, but an experience i neednt repeat more than once every 2 years.

3.5 This is a simple and pleasant porter that gets better as it warms. There is vanilla in the aroma, but you have to get your glass in the nose to pick it up. The beer is black, with a small but lasting tan head. Flavor has light coffee and a touch of chocolate with a little vanilla that I taste not because it is a major flavor of the beer but because I am expecting it to be there. A little sour, and medium body. Carbonation is on the low side. Better than I expected.

2.7 closest thing I’ve had to a drain pour in months. I was surprised to read in the commercial description that this was made with real vanilla bean, ’cause the first thing I got a whiff of was some strange artificial vanilla flavoring. not much more to add, not much flavor here.

3.2 Pours a mostly opaque black with some brown edges and a thin, fizzy, light tan head. Sweet toasty caramel, milk chocolate and vanilla bean aroma with a faint hint of roastiness. Body starts with some artificial tasting sweet vanilla, a thin palate, and some milk chocolate and roasted malt in the finish. An interesting concept, but would probably work well with a thicker body and slightly less vanilla character.

3.0 Pours a ruby fringed deep oil black, with a sparse fading head of coffee and cream. Aroma smells like sprite and vanilla cake, mixed with cumin and madgascar vanilla bean. Kind of weird aroma. Savory. This beer is boring and I know it’s fresh, because it just hit the shelves. It has a kind of metallic, bland roasted sugar flavor, with a hint of stale vanilla. Finishes with a hint of roasted coffee and chocolate in the smack. Palate is a little oaky dry. Very unimpressive for the style.

3.5 355ml brown bottle, shared with PandoraGreen and gilvanblight. Poured near opaque, deep brown, red highlights. Aroma is sweet, vanilla notes are mild. Flavour is roasty with dark chocolate and a light coffee bean finish.

3.4 Poured a clear dark brwon color with a golden edge and tan head. Matly aroma with a light vanilla undertone. Flavor had lots of vanilla with a light roast and light malt. Reminded me of a vanilla cream soda.

3.1 this was pretty good. mucho vanilla et chocolate. like bittersweet chocolate with vanilla to make it sweet. so good.

3.3 I don’t recall how many times I’ve ordered this at Libby Montana’s. It pours to a black body with a tan head. The aroma is sweet vanilla custard and roasted malts. The flavor is overly doused in vanilla beans. It’s very sweet and more than 1 or 2 bottles could become cloying. Easily drinkable. The palate is so-so.

3.4 Pours dark brown with a tan head. Smells great with lots of vanilla and some roasted malts. Tastes great with plenty of vanilla as well as some chocolate and roasted malt flavor. Very sweet and not too heavy, a pretty decent, unique brew.

3.4 12 oz bottle - Pours black with a fair tan head. Some lace down the glass and the head does not stay for long. Aroma is a nice mix of roasted malts and some vanilla. Flavor is definitely vanilla over a touch of chocolate and a lot of roasted malts. Some pepsi flavor comes in too. A very unique flavor. Medium palate fairly smooth but seems a touch overcarbonated to me. Decent and unique but nothing great.

3.8 Beautiful pour ... black with towering foam khaki head. Big vanilla bean aroma. Sweet like cookie dough with a slight roastie edge ... if you like the dessert porters, this rocks.

3.5 Poured a deep black with a short well-retained tan head. Aroma was of roasted malts (primarily chocolate) as well as some vanilla bean. Flavor was just like the aroma, and the vanilla carried through the finish. My only problem was the lack of complexity. Medium-bodied and nicely coated the mouth. Very nice all around, and would serve well as a lighter apertif beer.

3.8 Bottle. Pours a dark brown with a tan head. Aromas remind me of Toll House Cookies. Taste is very sweet, malty, chocolatey followed by vanilla aftertaste. Not bad, I doubt I’d have more than one at a time, though.

3.2 Tap into shaker glass, Jak’s Tap, Chicago IL. Rating from sometime in the summer of 2004. Black opaque in the glass with not much of a head, totally diminishing. Vanilla very noticable in the smell, like imitation vanilla extract out the bottle. Good balance on the flavor between hops acid and dry bite with the sweetness. Not too complex, pretty straightforward, with some nice dark chocolate on the finish. Mouthfeel is medium, but seems a bit watery. Solid session beer, but not more than that.

3.9 Out of a bottle, thanks degarth. A nice waffting aroma of chocolate and vanilla and a subtle caramel. Poured a delicious dark brown with an inviting tan head. The taste at first sip requests you to further enjoy it’s creaminess that the aroma let you in on. It’s not at all overbearing flavor though, the sweetness is evenly matched with the heaviness of it’s malt and just enough hops. The palate is reflective of everthing else and keeps you wanting more. A definite winner for me, thanks again Joe!! Get this brew and share!!

3.6 A hint of vanilla and pours a deep black with a nice head. Roasted malt flavor with a touch of vanilla.

3.8 yet another brew from enniskillen.the body was black with a tine white head.aroma was very inviting.chocolate,vanilla,and brownies made up the sweet smell.the flavor was much of the same,with some roasted malts and a tine "soda" flavor.this is damn tasty.

3.5 The aroma is very sweet and pleasant, heavy chocolate, with a big vanilla accent along with some caramel. If Coca Cola made a Vanilla Porter this is what it would taste exactly. Pretty good, I wish the vanilla was more subtle though.