Tallgrass Bourbon-Barrel Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat Review

Name: Tallgrass Bourbon Barrel Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat
Style: Milk Stout
ABV: 5.8%
IBUs: 20

Recently Tallgrass Brewing has been releasing some limited edition beers using the Explorer Series moniker. Today I've got their Bourbon Barrel Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat, which is a bourbon-barrel aged version of their existing Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat, a beer that is also a variation of their regular Buffalo Sweat.

However there is a bit of a twist here. In addition to being barrel-aged, this beer also has some cinnamon thrown in to give the flavor a bit of an extra twist. Personally, cinnamon wouldn't have been my first choice in terms of things to add to this beer but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.

Appearance - Pitch black color with a foamy khaki colored head. In terms of lacing, however, there isn't really anything here.

Aroma - Oatmeal, chocolate malts, vanilla and lactose notes on the front of the nose, followed by some fairly strong oak notes and cinnamon spiciness. Despite my earlier statements, everything blends together quite nicely and, dare I say, it smells like a good beer for the holidays. Interestingly enough, I'm not picking up on any kind of heavy roastiness.

Taste - Cinnamon & vanilla start things off while being backed up oatmeal notes, chocolate malts & lactose. On the back end of the palate is where you get a tiny hint of roastiness followed by more chocolate malts, oakiness, & vanilla with a slight cinnamon zing at the very end.

I have to say I enjoyed this quite a bit. It has a nice vibrant & varied flavor profile and everything ends up blending together quite nicely. If this is what the Explorer Series has been up to so far, I can't wait to see what other offerings come of it. I've been told availability is limited on this beer so be sure to snag it if you so happen to stumble across it.

Tallgrass Bourbon-Barrel Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat - 9/10