Draught at the brewery, 4/10/18.
Maroon-tinted edges show clear in this dark mahogany beer. Probably opaque through the middle, with a large tan head showing excellent retention.
Smells like vanilla rice crispies, perhaps cookie crisp? Some kind of milky-sweet, vanilla-flavored cereal, anyways. Biscuit, milk, ultra-soft vanilla and light wood. It's nice, but there's a corn flake character that is a bit odd, though not bad or terribly weird, I guess.
Soft, woody and very vanilla forward. White chocolate imparts a milky frosted flakes character. Acidity shows lightly on the end from the vanilla or the dark malt, perhaps? The base beer is definitely a bit lost. Soft and drinkable, though, with light, engaging carbonation and low alcohol appearance. With warming, more of the oak seen in the base beer emerges. Lingering wood, grain, vanilla and cereal. Don't love the sugary, simple, white chocolate character, but it has a fair enough balance overall. While I don't think the treatment adds any more to the beer, I do think the additional age on the beer (compared to its release at the 5th Anniversary) has helped.