Breckenridge Vanilla Porter, bottle

In an effort to make better (more better?) use of my time, I decided a while back that I'd only blog about really exceptional beers unless I had a great story to tell along with the beer review. Instead, for no other reason than my fingers feel like typing, tonight I'm reviewing a mediocre beer, drunk by my bedside on a nondescript Tuesday night.

The label on Breckenridge Vanilla Porter says "remarkable" and "partakable" on the front. I'll let you guess which word is a more accurate description. (Hint: it's the word that gets flagged by spell-check.) Snark aside, it's a perfectly ok beer--nothing notable, nothing objectionable, nothing much for me to say.

The vanilla is subtle, though not totally ingrained into the brew. Subtle would also be a pretty good way to describe the rest of the flavor. There's the usual toasty malt and a slightly bitter finish, but mostly, I was wondering if I'm coming down with a cold. It was only fragrant on the initial pour; once the head dissipated, so did the aroma. It was pleasant enough while it lasted--malty, earthy like bark and broccoli, and coffee.

This isn't viscous enough to be porter, but it has the right amount of carbonation. Because of the thin body and low ABV (4.7%), it's not really a sipper--too few tilts of the glass for my liking.

Grade: V, for value-neutral. Partakable really is an apt description. Gotta hand it to the marketing team.