Ninkasi Brewing Company - Vanilla Oatis

Hey guys! It's Sunday night and I'm dreading going into work tomorrow. Yeah, I'd imagine a lot of you are in the same boat. So to ease the pain of working Monday morning I'm drinking a new beer that seems to have just made it's way to my area.

Tonight I'm drinking Vanilla Oatis from Ninkasi Brewing Company out of Eugene Oregon. This is a 7.2% abv Oatmeal Stout brewed with Vanilla. It was a little warm here today in San Diego so it's still not exactly stout weather but I really don't care. Let's get this one open and see how it is.

The Vanilla Oatis pours out pitch black in color which isn't surprising since this is a stout after all. There was about a fingers worth of a beige creamy looking head. The head is sticking around for a long time. In fact, there's still a nice little ring of beige/tan head still on top of the beer like a lid or cap. It's leaving behind a very thick and foamy lacing. This is a very nice looking oatmeal stout. Let's get the nose.

First thing I pick up is the Vanilla. Thankfully this is a beer with Vanilla that ACTUALLY smells like vanilla. It's not in the background, hidden behind a shitload of coffee. This is right there in your face. There's some roasted oat coming through behind the vanilla. I'm picking up some creme brulee like sweetness in here as well. It's not quite like a burned sugar but that richness you get from the creme is coming out in this very nicely. There's some subtle milk chocolate notes in here too. Really impressed by the nose on this one. Very stoked the vanilla is dominant. Only one thing left to do now.

There's an immediate blast of roast, like a roasted oat to be exact. That lends itself to a really nice, creamy mouth feel. Behind that is the vanilla. Very sweet and a perfect compliment to the creamy, roasted oats. Sides of the palate you get more of the vanilla and more of that creme brulee sort of feel. Sort of fluffy, sort of creamy, definitely a bit on the rich side. Back end of this beer sort of explodes into a bitter coffee experiment. This really brings the beer altogether. Definitely makes it more of a vanilla latte than it does a creme brulee. As the flavors linger a bit you get a lot of that bitter coffee, a bit of bitter chocolate, very earthy.

So overall, I'm really digging this beer. I vaguely remember having the regular Oatis years ago and wasn't all that impressed. But this is just really nice. I think where this one stands out is the vanilla. It is really up front and put out there. It's kind of surprising that they really nailed this. Not because Ninkasi is bad or anything, but from my experience a lot of breweries use the vanilla in the background, maybe as an after thought. Just used to that I guess. I'd give this one the nod if you're thinking about picking it up.

Rating: A