Ballast Point Victory At Sea Coffee Imperial Porter

Date: 12/01/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Tasting, Strong Ale Fest

black, fine tan head, drippy lace, dark chocolate and coffee aroma with a caramel sweetness that gives the chocolate a milky quality, rich chocolate flavor, lots of sweetness bring out more chocolate, touch of roasted for balance, hint of sour mash tartness,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: **/4

Draught Near no head; black beer. Pure freshly roasted coffee with a bit of sugar; moccha cookies (Café Crème) aroma. Sweet coffee & moccha, and only the sweetness and the warming betraying the alcoholload. Very slick, viscuous, and alcoholwarming. Good, impressive Imperial porter, with a respectable alcoholdash that doesn’t get too spiritlike.

Tap at the Liar’s Club: Nearly opaque with a small tan head and minimal lacing. The aroma profile displays bourbon, vanilla bean, hint of oak, milky chocolate, quick dash of smoke, some herbal and grassy hop vapours as well. Boy was I disappointed with the flavour combinations in this brew. There were the expected heavy malt and fruity notes at the beginning before a crashing volley of vanilla and oak ruined it for me. Really just too sweet and flat for what was found on the nose. A dash of espresso bitterness on the finish did little to improve my experience. The mouth feel is oily and sticky with a heavy alcohol burn. I am way against the grain here but I found this beer leaning too far towards the malt and not enough hop and coffee bitterness.

2007 PP Strong Ale Fest: Poured black with a tan head. The aroma started with pure diacetyl and tart coffee. After a few minutes it was big milk chocolate and a hint of licorice. the other aromas are gone. The flavor was of some tart coffee and dark chocolate. The aroma score is for after the crud went away.

Draught chalice at the Liar’s Club on 3/23/07
Very dark, black coffee-like appearance, with violet and crimson edges and a thin sheaf of tan head that manages to stick around for a while. Little/no lacing. Clarity is low.
Soft, yet sweet vanilla cream-like maltiness has pieces of bitter and milk chocolate folded in to it with coffee sweeping in quickly to add dryness to the nose and a bit more hardness than is first perceived. Light vinousness and oak notes emerge on the end, adding complexity but not any harshness, thankfully. Sweet malts make a reprise, rich and full of milk chocolate (light lactic notes as well), with some salty roast and even a touch of delicate prunes. Though the oak/bourbon nuances add more power to the aroma, it still comes off as smooth and rather soothing for its strength. Maybe a touch too much on the coffee, but it is a coffee imperial porter, afterall. Alcohol is only glimpsed briefly, after warming.
Buttertoffee and strong vanilla immediately give way to a cocoa dryness, ripe with bitter coffee notes, and chocolate covered prunes/raisins. Some said smoke was apparent, but I seemed to get more of a salty roast-like quality, with black malt bitterness and moderate oakiness. Very soft texture, overall, however, with low carbonation. Big pale malt backbone goes the distance and makes for a supple palate without becoming cloying. Coffee seems, again, a bit too strong and dry, but not glaringly so, I guess. Alcohol well-concealed with no flaws. A nutty character either coming from the yeast or neutral tannins, adds a bit of chewiness to the texture. Glad to have one of their beers on draught, as I was less than impressed with their bottles.