Ballast Point Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter

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

22 oz bottle. Pours a clear dark brown body with a small creamy light brown head that faded to a wispy film. The nose is a great mix of dark-roast coffee, roast, chocolate malt, a little alcohol, and just a little vanilla. The flavor is much heavier on the vanilla than the aroma would suggest. A little too heavy even, it makes me think I’m taking a shot of vanilla extract. The coffee and roast are still there in force, but the vanilla is just really overbearing. Finishes with a bit of astringency and a shot of alcohol warmth. Medium to full bodied with a nice creamy texture and soft gentle carbonation. Overall, this just missed the mark for my tastes. Way too much emphasis on the vanilla. This would be awesome if they tuned down the vanilla a few notches.

Bottle, courtesy kiefdog. Dark reddish pour, thin white head, thick braids of lacing. Vanilla nose, caramel, some chocolate, and very hot. Chocolate flavors, bourbon, vanilla, some distant coffee, slight hoppy bitterness. Full-bodied, balanced and pretty interesting.

Great ring lace on the glass from the substantive tan head. Dark, dark brown color where no lace passes. Lots of coffee and a little bit of cream. Basically, mocha in aroma. Low level of sweetness...reminiscent of good cocoa. Lots of powdered chocolate in the flavor. Sweet and bitter from the malt. Rich body with a relatively low level of carbonation. Almost chewy. The aftertaste is complicated: Notable hop bitterness with some dark chocolate malt and sweet milky flavor. Deceptively high in alcohol.

Bottled at Thrash Zone, Yokohama, Japan. Opaque black, beige fairly coarse head. Milky chocolate strikes first. Near full bodied. Vanilla and chocolate dominates tar, coffee steps in to accompany the vanilla. Mid sweet with long salty finish.

22 oz. bottle courtesy of a trade with Smokepot23. Pours a very dark brown, not quite black, with a moderate light brown head that lasted through the first third of the glass and left a few spots of lace. Very pleasant aroma of coffee and vanilla. The flavor is again coffee along with some vanilla. Roasted malt is also present in the flavor. Some coffee bitterness at the finish. Mild warmth from the alcohol at the finish as well, especially as the beer warms a bit. Enjoyable.

On tap @ O’Brien’s Pub: Black color with a firm layer of head which left behind in its trail a very sticking lacing along the glass. The aroma was a delicious olfaction of vanilla and cocoa which put my taste buds into alert mode. However, the flavor was to strong and rich with chocolate chip sweetness and over bearing cough syrup flavors that made me regret I ordered such a large serving of this beer.
Earlier Rating: 5/16/2009 Total Score: 4.3
Bottle from South Bay Drugs: Poured a pitch black liquid with a creamy layer of tanned colored head. Aromas are all right and score a perfect score to my nose for the delighting and strong pleasant scent of espresso and memory of a coffee ice cream. The flavors are sweet and decked with a rich roasted malt and coffee profile. There are also is a notice of vanilla lurking in the background of all the richness of the malts as well as hint of chocolate syrup. Alcohol presence is less damaging on the palate which makes me choose the bottle version of this over the tap.

Sampled April 2009
A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a dense, creamy, darkly browned crown of froth that rises three fingers in height. The head leaves copious amounts of dense lace on the sides of my glass as it slowly subsides. The beer is almost pure black in color, but does have a touch of brown to it. When held up to the light the beer shows just a touch of an amber hue to it around the edges, but I wouldn’t really say that it is passing any light through. The aroma has the coffee leading off along with roasted malt notes, but it has a soft backdrop of vanilla that becomes more noticeable the longer I spend smelling the aroma (though it never goes beyond subtle). The vanilla accentuates a solid dark chocolate aromatic note here and it also helps to soften the sharp, roasted grain and coffee notes. The nose has quite a rich, satisfying, even satiating quality to it.

As the beer hits my tongue I notice that it has a rich, satisfying heft to it, though it is not quite as heavy as the nose might have suggested; it is still a sipping beer though. Vanilla flavors accentuate a malt sweetness as well as a dark chocolate flavor. Bitter, roasted coffee flavors are found in the finish and can get a touch acrid at times. The bitterness from the dark malt and coffee flavors really lingers on in the finish.

This beer has a nice balance to it, between the vanilla notes and sweetness up front and the roasted, biting notes towards the finish, but it can seem a little simplistic at times. The vanilla really helps this beer shine; the roast malt and coffee notes would be too aggressive, too acrid and too bitter without the vanilla. This is definitely a nice after dinner sipping brew and I find that I am quite enjoying it.

22 oz bottle big thanks to Smokepot23. Pours a dark brown color with a medium brown head. The aroma is great; initially heavy coffee notes, later more vanilla and fruits come in. The flavor is also initially lots of rich milky coffee, vanilla, and lots of rich fruitiness come through as it warms and your palate get used to the coffee. Light sour, roasted malts and bitter chocolates in the finish. Very nice at about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Light alcohol warmth and a nice medium mouthfeel.