Episode Notes

Episode 78: VIP Vanilla Imperial Porter by Great North Aleworks in Manchester, NH

It’s the Two Minute Beer Review!

I’m Andrew Burkum and it’s that time again where we take on that massive craft brew aisle to find the hidden treasures waiting for us there.

This week we’re taking a look at VIP Vanilla Imperial Porter by Great North Aleworks in Manchester, NH. Will this one take us on a limo ride to beer stardom? Let’s find out!

VIP pours nice and solid black with a pretty, creamy head capping it off. The scent is strong with this one. It’s full of malt, molasses with just a touch of freshly roasted coffee. Oddly enough, the team and I couldn’t detect any of the signature vanilla in the scent of the beer.

But what about the taste? This one hits nice and hard up front with coffee and cocoa really warming up and wrapping their way around the tongue. These flavors develop as the beer goes down into this really nice, smooth bitterness by the end of the swallow that resolves to balance the beer without punching you in the flavor face. And then, there it is! That vanilla that was promised. It’s sitting right there on top of the whole experience in the vapors that sink into your palate. It permeates the flavor in an extremely satisfying way and tie all of those flavors into a really nicely made package. The beer feels smooth and light but not so much so that it ever seems watery. It’s just a great example of a really clean drinking porter, not chewy but robust and full of flavor. The beer’s sweet, but not overly so at all.

This beer is an immaculate porter, and it’s really nice to see so many of these coming out when so much of the industry has shifted into heavy IPA production. It’s my first from the folks at Great North Aleworks, but it certainly won’t be my last. Thanks to Mike Hogan from Great North for the sample—we’re lucky Court from the tasting team ran into you! What about you folks out there? Have you tried this one? I want to know what you think! You can let me know by emailing me at [email protected] (using the number 2), tweeting me @2minutebeer or responding on Facebook where you’ll find the live video of this episode. I want to hear what you have to say--and make sure to share the episode so others can weigh in as well! Oh and while you’re at it, for my rating on this and countless other beers—some of which we haven’t even featured on the show yet, be sure to follow me on Untappd, just search for me by name, that’s Andrew Burkum spelled BURKUM and send me a friend request!

That’s all for this week, but I hope you’ll join me next week as I bring you a very special episode live from the Multicultural Arts Center in Merced where I’ll be covering their Mardi Gras celebration and some special beer surprises that they’ll have on tap there! Will we earn our beads this year? We’ll find out next week.

Look for links to this week’s beer and brewery in the show notes and don’t forget to subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app and follow us on Facebook so you never miss an episode!

The Two Minute Beer Review is a part of the Phoenix Podcast Network and is brought to you by Zane-It, where you can find all the best costumes and makeup, Central Valley Youth Legal Services and Superfan Sandra Hay. If you’d like to support the show you can leave us a tip or sign up for a small monthly donation by clicking the link in the show notes or by supporting the Phoenix Creative Collective on Patreon. Our music is by Rialthos. You can find more at Rialthos.bandcamp.com. He also just launched a Kickstarter for his upcoming Lo-Fi Neo-Digital Jazz Compilation, entitled Repetition Legitimizes. Check the show notes for details on how you can contribute and get a copy!

That’s all for now but I’ll see you next week as we continue on our quest to taste all the beer!

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