Phases of Darkness - Vanilla
Ruse Brewing in Portland, Oregon, United States 🇺🇸
Stout - Pastry / Flavoured - Imperial Regular|
Score
7.89
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This imperial stout was brewed with our favorite top shelf ingredients. British base malt, rolled oats, malted oats, and a whole lot of toasty brown sugar are liquified into this luscious treat. We then filled some freshly dumped maple syrup casks which previously held Pappy Van Winkle bourbon, filled them to the brim, and waited. Once this sticky concoction reached its prime, we sourced rare vanilla from Vanuatu, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo to bolster extra creamy notes of chocolate, cookies, custard and caramel swirled baking spice.
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9.6/10
Tried
on 30 May 2025
at 17:56
8/10
Tried
from Draft
on 29 May 2025
at 20:47
8.2/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
Black with a brown head - Sweet vanilla and malt aroma - Dark malt body with some sweet vanilla and wood bourbon flavours - Malt and wood barrel flavours goes into the finish - This was real good
Tried
on 29 Jul 2024
at 17:44
9.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 10
Texture 10
Overall 9
375mL bottle, pours jet black with almost no head. Aroma is decadent and complex, with intense vanilla beans, a very elegant bourbon character, and some wonderful dark sugars. Flavour is just as elegant and complex, with an absolutely magnificent bourbon barrel character, complemented by succulent vanilla character, and moderately attenuated dark sugars on the finish. Top-notch bourbon, top-notch vanilla, a stellar base beer -- yeah, this is sublime.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Oct 2023
at 03:39
8.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 8.5
Poured from bottle (2023 vintage; 15% abv). Very dark brown with minimal beige head. Bourbon and vanilla forward, nice blend, mild cookie character, very nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Oct 2023
at 03:38
7.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Draught, taster @MBCC 2023, Copenhagen (Denmark). 06/05/2023. [#6.451 Global - #1.138 United States of America - #23 Ruse Brewing] Pours black with a beige cap. Mostly lacing and good retention. Aroma: dark malts, brown sugar, burnt caramel and wood barrels. Taste: maple syrup, wood barrels and burnt brown sugar leading to a sweet vanilla finish. Next one please!
Tried
on 27 Jun 2023
at 05:57
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
During MBCC 2023 Saturday afternoon session with Matt, Brian, Ryan, Phill, Erik, along with superhelpful, bossy, funny, and sarcastic Rachel, hehe. Aroma: nice barrel, vanilla, chocolate. Taste: same, thick, sweet, boozy. Overall: ok.
Tried
on 06 May 2023
at 16:31
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
How: Draught.
Where: MBCC 2022.
Appearance: Black colour with a small beige head.
Aroma: Roasted malt, chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, maple syrup.
Body: Full body, low carbonation.
Flavour: Roasted malt, chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, maple syrup.
Where: MBCC 2022.
Appearance: Black colour with a small beige head.
Aroma: Roasted malt, chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, maple syrup.
Body: Full body, low carbonation.
Flavour: Roasted malt, chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, maple syrup.
Tried
from Draft
on 30 Nov 2022
at 14:09
8.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Tap @MBCC 2022, Red Session. Black, beige head. heavy dark malty aroma, light vanilla, some choc. Thick, slivk mouthfeel. Rich malty flavour, syrupy with choc and vanilla.
Tried
from Draft
on 21 Sep 2022
at 12:05
8.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Tap@MBCC 2022, Copenhagen (14/05/2022) - Dark sweet malty lots of chocolate and nice vanilla throughout , full body, dark malty finish. Great --- Beer merged from original tick of Phases of Darkness W/ Vanilla on 26 Mar 2025 at 12:43 - Score: 8. Original review text: Dark sweet malty lots of chocolate and nice vanilla throughout , full body, dark malty finish. Great
Tried
from Draft
on 20 May 2022
at 19:29