Ballast Point Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter

Brewed by Ballast Point Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
San Diego, California USA

Bottle shared with mspindler. Hot chocolate smell with notes of vanilla extract. Very great balance of chocolaty goodness with vanilla and caramel. Dark color with nice brown creamy head. Very great porter, very smooth.

Courtesy WeeHeavySD. Pours a very dark brown color almost black with a small, foamy tan colored head that spots of lacing behind. The nose shows lots of dark chocolate, fresh roasted coffee, and hints of vanilla. The flavor follows with the dark chocolate and roasted coffee up front with the creamy vanilla coming through to balance things out. The moluthfeel is full bodied and almost creamy with good carbonation with a lengthy roasted chocolate finish. The alcohol is well hidden in this as well. A really tasty brew that I hope to try again sometime.

Bomber, courtesy juiceisloose. Pours a dark, lightly translucent, chocolate mahogany color. A small, foamy, khaki colored head leaves wet lacing spots behind. The nose shows big, dark cacao malts infused with roasty espresso, heaps of vanilla, and creamy oats. Flavors show the same elements, but the vanilla really pushes through and takes over as the dominant component. Dark chocolate and deeply roasted caramel are quite sweet, with the roasty coffee struggling to keep up. The body is more than substantial, but syrupy and somewhat cloying at the same time. Tasty stuff, in small doses or as a dessert, but I don’t know how much of this sweet brew I could finish.

courtesy of kiefdog Pours dark brown Aroma plenty of coffee, roasted malts. Taste, vanilla is present but doesn’t overwhelm the taste, some roasted malts, coffee, light touch of chocolate. This is some fine tasty beer. Highly drinkable at 10 abv.

Bottle shared by Paul. Dryish pomello aroma with a ton of vanilla that almost completely dominates the aroma. Flavor is once again completely dominated by vanilla, I like it but this is completely one-dimensional. I can drink it, for sure, I mean I like it, but there is nothing here but vanilla.

This is some good stuff. Pours very dark, nice head retention. Plenty of coffee in the aroma, vanilla isn’t as noticeable as the coffee. A very roasted, complex flavor, with coffee dominating. Definitely worth seeking out.

bomber thanks to weeHeavySD. Pours black with a light-brown head. Nose is potent coffee and some cocoa. wow! taste is coffee, coffee, coffee. Fantastic tasting coffee. Thank God I like coffee. Mouthfeel was thick and creamy, more so than most porters. Liked this a lot.

Pours a black espresso with chestnut tinges around the edges. Light tan head is a little on the short side with large, loose bubbles. Coffee nose is ultra-prevalent on this one. It’s almost a one-sided affair until your nose down in it. Fresh ground espresso, bitter sweet chocolate, a nice clean roastiness, smoke and a hint of sweetness. Enticing. I don’t detect much in the way of obvious vanilla, but the overall aroma is explosive. Flavor is not complex but is very bold. The dark roasty coffee notes are hot on this one and again take the forefront. Semi-sweet chocolate, scorched caramel, toasted walnuts, and smoke all jump out in the middle of the palate. The finish is bitter initially but quickly checked by a backlash of sugars. Vanilla is definitely subtle but leaves its presence on the finish. I feel it’s not so much of a flavor component as it is used to amplify the sweetness of the residual sugars and balance out the bitterness. Wonderful medium-densie body. Great big and bold!