If there’s one thing I always look forward to, it’s a new Revival brew, and Revival’s Doug and Scarpetti Vanilla Porter has been on my to-do list for a while. The track record for Revival’s beers is a great one, and the partnership with WHJY to brew in honor of their more famous personalities has been a thrilling success to witness.
As always with these brews, I have to talk about the cover art, I mean, the label. It depicts two astronauts against a cosmic background, one with a guitar, and the other giving me the sign for ‘bird with broken wings,’ I think. That’s deep, man. Or I could be mistaken; my sign language is a bit rusty.
But let’s wait no longer. I’ve been looking forward to this brew for months. It pours a slightly translucent dark brown with a light mocha foam and gives off a subtle, creamy vanilla aroma. This foam doesn’t go away quickly, either; it lingers and provides a really creamy looking head. I normally don’t judge aesthetics much when it comes to beer, but this really is a very good looking brew.
The first sip is interesting. I expected a more pronounced vanilla flavor, but it’s wonderfully subtle and melts into the background of the malt body giving it a creamy mouthfeel. It’s a very sweet and malty brew, but complex. It’s almost reminiscent of a caramel dessert with whipped cream, and there’s almost a maple-like taste floating in the background somewhere.
As always, this Revival brew is far more than meets the eye, and I could spend weeks trying to guess just what Madman Larkin put into it, but that just adds to the fun of the experience. I would recommend this brew for the craft beer lovers with a sweet tooth, as it would make an excellent dessert beer, maybe even a delicious beer float with a scoop of ice cream, like butterscotch or maple pecan. I could also see this brew being paired with tiramisu or a brownie sundae.
This one was well worth the wait. Grab it while you still can, and judge for yourself. It’s always nice to have a sweet alternative to the hop monsters out there.