I am a big fan of a stout brewed with vanilla beans. I brew one myself each year. The label on Creme Brulee states "a stout brewed with vanilla beans". Creme Brulee unlike Genghis Pecan - which I reviewed last - does not leave one seeking deeply for aroma or flavors. Once opened the aroma of toffee and butterscotch dominate. Even after a distance of time and space the butterscotch flavor wafts though the atmosphere to your nose. While pretty dark it still has some transparency. Full bodied and very sweet, with some coffee bitterness and hop bitterness. Honestly an ale with such a sweet dominate character is a little hard to rate. The base ale is what should be judged, not strong characteristics that can hide the complexities of the ale. The same toffee and butterscotch notes are present in the taste, the sweetness is balanced with hop bitterness. Although 'balance' here here refers to something along the lines of running off the road on the one side, over-correcting and running off the other side. It is not subltle in any context of the word. I like it. I have a bottle in the cellar and I am curious to see how it ages. I remember thinking of it favorably in the past. This is probably the first time I have really analyzed it however. While I really enjoy this ale I would be careful to give it a super high rating. While on one hand the aroma is pretty amazing and beyond any other ale I have had, the base ale is solid, but still only an eight out of ten. So while technically I can't give this ale a 10 out of 10, it is pretty damn good. It is so sweet that it really needs to be shared. Finishing a bomber is only possible with the consumption of some salty foods to balance the intense sweetness.
