Dust Bowl Brewing Co. California Line Vanilla Blonde Ale
What the brewers say
“A crisp, refreshing blonde ale perfect for our California climate. An addition of vanilla beans to the finished beer gives this relatively sweet ale a mild vanilla aroma and flavor reminiscent of cream soda.”
What our panel thought
Aroma: “Getting more oak character than actual vanilla on the nose, which is good because vanilla can be overwhelming. Warming, it settles with a touch of malt sweetness, biscuit malt, brown sugar, and light floral hop.”
Flavor: “Simple: beer, vanilla. They’re both there, but they don’t play together much at all. Light earthy hops, mild bitterness, some clean malt. There’s oxidation, too, but might be an extra dose of the vanilla character. Fairly big bitterness in the tail end.”
Overall: “The base recipe for this beer is not necessarily up to the challenge of supporting the strong flavors they’ve added, and the addition of vanilla makes the beer muddled and a bit disjointed.”
