Mikkeller’s Vanilla Shake – Prøbably the Best Imperial Stout in the World?
It’s Friday, late afternoon, and I am about to greet the evening with a bottle of Mikeller’s Vanilla Shake. This thing is a little monster with its 13% of ABV, so I might end up getting a bit drunk while writing this post.
Hello Daniel
Let’s start off with the fact that the Vanilla Shake is one of the highest rated beers on ratebeer.com, as well as one of the most expensive ones (6.15Euros /6.9 USD for a bottle of 330ml) that I have ever purchased from a store. My expectations are set high, and I am anticipating nothing short of brilliance and a sensory orgasm in my mouth.
My beloved Rogue glass is lurking in the background
The first thing that I notice is how thick and black this beer is – it pours like a liquid tar. Also, it didn’t make any foam but only small bubbles. The smell is sweet with distinctive notes of vanilla and coffee.
Where is the foam?
Pitch black
Right after the first sip, I can taste coffee, vanilla, milk, dark chocolate and even citrus! While it's quite sweet at the beginning, the aftertaste is bitter. It’s smooth as engine oil and goes down the throat like silk. This stout is very well balanced, and I can hardly feel the alcohol. That said, I would prefer drinking it when the weather is cold.
Steemin' like a boss
I am not sure whether Mikkeller's Vanilla Shake is worth the price, but it is prøbably one of the best drinks that have given me a buzz :) Highly recommended!
Cheers, and thank you for reading.
Wow, man... I am definitely so envious right now. For sure it will be better when the weather is colder. 13 abv for sure leads towards an absolute thickness of the beer. Could the absence of foam be due to the high alcohol content? Maybe the yeast cannot ferment it well... and the fact that high alcohol content discourages the absorption of CO2... anyway...
Cheers!
Haha, you are the beer expert, so it could very well be because of the high alcohol content :) What is the strongest beer/stout you have ever tried? Cheers and thanks for your comment!
Maybe it's around 11% imperial
Stout, which was barrel aged... sooo soft and creamy! And a lot of vanilla flavoring from the oak barrel
Sounds delicious! :) Ако имаш път към София - пиши да пием по някоя бира.
Обмислям тези седмици (може би след 8-ми юли) да гостувам на една приятелка в София, така че може да се разберем нещо. :)
Супер, пиши тогава тук или в чата - ако и аз съм в София ще се уговорим нещо :)
a good choice ! :)
Thank you, niemarudz! :)
give me some mate!! :)
Haha, I would have gladly shared the beer with you :)
thank you if in real life that will be happen we will drink until we were not able to stand ahhahaha thanks mate!!
Haha, I don't drink that much any longer :) You are welcome!
Wow, that looks and sounds pretty amazing! Apparently Brewdog has it, so I might have to pay a visit during the weekend and try it if they have it in :D
That's great, you should definitely give it a try then! Let me know whether you like it or not :) Thank you for your comment.
This one is now officially on my must try list! I love stouts. Thank you
Thank YOU! What is your favorite stout?
Well, I'm definitely going on the hunt for that one. Lately, I've been making a cream stout that has been very well received with my local crew, adding a little of this and a little of that to the mix. Haven't tried adding extra coffee, so I'm thinking I might head down that road with the next batch.
Man, that looks good.
Thanks a lot man! Are you brewing your stout at home?
Yeah. I do a bit of brewing at home. Started a few years ago with some easy stuff, using the kits they have at my local brew store. Eh. My friends said they liked it, but I wasn't super impressed. But then I did a wine from a kit and really liked it, so I kinda got stuck doing wines for a while.
But then, on a whim, I picked up a cream stout kit at the store and, YES! - now that's more like it. I guess I'm just a dark beer kind of guy. Most of my brewing buddies do ciders and the hoppy IPA's and stuff. Yeah, you go for it guys, I'll stick with my stouts and porters. I was going to try a vanilla porter next, but you've got me thinkin'...
Haha, I know another guy on Steemit (@mdosev) who is into home brewing :) Maybe the two of you could exchange some ideas and good practices. That said, have you tried Bell's expedition stout? It's the next one on my list.
Ahhh, Mikkeller, always produce good beer. Haven't had a chance to try the Vanilla shake yet but will look out for it. I would love to live in a country were I could consider $6USD to be expensive for a 13% Beer, It Australia we would regularly see them strength/size beer at around $16-$18AUD - which is about $12USD. Probably still worth it though
Well, yeah, but if you take into account the standard of living here, $6USD is expensive for most people. Anyway, you should give the Vanilla shake a try ;) Thanks for your comment!