Ballast Point Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter

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

bottle, pours dark brown almost black with a nice brown swirled head, aroma has coffee, roasted nuts, flavors of roast coffee, darker fruits, nutty, vanilla oaky smooth finisher, I did prefer the original however
Earlier Rating: 3/21/2009 Total Score: 4.3
draft at Sea Rocket, black walnut colored with perfect tan head, aroma of coffee and cocoa, flavor of roast coffee, rich dark chocolates, cashew butter, very good finish

Bottle from Carrboro Beverage Company. Nice to have this as a "local" beer. Pours dark brown with a small tan head and adequate lacing throughout. Nose and flavor come through with a nice blend of vanilla, coffee, roasted malts and hops. Everything is relatively well with the vanilla characteristics perhaps showing the most, but not to the point that they are unpleasant or cloying. . The palate is amazingly creamy and silky smooth. Not overly bitter or overly sweet like some imperial porters. Well balanced and pretty tasty for some a high gravity brew. Would like to try the "original" someday to taste the difference.

Pours thick and black. Tastes of highly roasted malts, espresso, slight vanilla in the background. Light head with little retention or lacing. Overall, a great beer. If you like strong porters, you’ll love this one.

22oz bottle from BevMo! Mission Valley. Pours a very dark brown, almost black with a good sized chocolate head. Big coffee nose with hints of vanilla, chocolate, and coffee. Flavor was a little boozy with a big coffee influence. I’m not sure why they didn’t bottle the original recipe? This one is not quite as good.
Earlier Rating: 1/30/2008 Total Score: 4.2
On tap @ San Diego Brew Co. Very deep brown almost black in color, head was beige and about 2 fingers. Coffee, coffee and more coffee on the nose. Some smoke, vanilla and wood chips present as well. Hefty mouth feel and more chocolate was present on the finish than initially. One of My favorite Imperial porters!

Bomber shared at the decadence release Huge nose of vanilla and coffee followed up by a smooth & creamy flavor of vanilla, chocolate & coffee.
Earlier Rating: 8/1/2008 Total Score: 4.2
On tap at Ballast Point for the RBSG 2008. Great coffee flavor, tasty tasty brew. Easy drinking.

Bomber from La Mesa Market. Pitch black in color. Strong roasted coffee aroma. Not a whole lot of vanilla in the nose. Very smooth and thick. Lots of burnt/roasty maltiness and tons of bitter coffee. Quite tasty. For some reason I can’t really taste any vanilla. Good stuff.
Earlier Rating: 3/21/2008 Total Score: 4
Tap @ Hamilton’s. Poured black in color. Smooth body. Huge coffee aroma. Tastes like a somewhat sweet iced coffee. Quite tasty. Alcohol is very well hidden.

22oz. bottle, with thanks to stefanje for the unexpected box! Pours a dark brown with a moderate tan head. Aroma is cold pressed coffee, espresso, chocolate and light vanilla. On the flavor the vanilla comes more front and center, with more chocolate, espresso and some caramel. Overall I agree with others that the vanilla is a bit too amped up on this, but still a nice beer. Thanks again Stefan!

Tap at the Old Grove location 10%. Dark pour with a very creamy tan head. Lots of coffee in the aroma, dark roasted malts as well. Flavor was alot of coffee as well, slightly sweet some caramel and a little vanilla, very smooth and very tasty