Ballast Point Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter

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

220z bomber brought to a tasting. Pours pitch black with a thin, deep brown head. Good retention. Good lacing. Aroma is coffee, roasted malt, ehh I can’t get too much else out of it. Taste is still too hot. Very boozy. Lots of warming. Hard to get much out of it at this point. Bubbly, biting on the palate. Good definitely take kindly to some barrel aging or cellaring for 1-2 years. Disappointing. Need to retry this when my other bottles start to peak.

Bottle thanks to Dominic. Pours pitch black, thin dissipating head. Big cocoa nose, dark berries. Very chocolaty flavour, turning coffeeish later. Deep flavours, vanilla awesomeness. A massive body and great balance of flavours make this an astounding beer.

Poured very black, smooth, lots of chocolate, vanilla, coffee, roasted malts. #1000 for me!

22oz bottle. Black with a medium tan head that leaves moderate foam and a touch of lace. Not inky though with some mahogany around the edges, which I guess is an argument for it being a porter (whatever that means). The aroma is great, with lots of coffee and maybe even more vanilla; almost like a mocha with a shot of vanilla syrup. I’m having Starbucks flashbacks, and I like it. Plenty of milk chocolate as well, and the vanilla aids in the impression of an immense sweetness. Did I already mention the vanilla? I got more coffee at first, but the vanilla is really coming out over time. Forty-five minutes in the glass, and this begins to resemble vanilla extract. I love that stuff. The flavor is sweet, but not thick or sticky (wait, that’s a mouthfeel). Coffee, poser dark chocolate, and lots of vanilla. Fresh coffee, which is always a nice touch. Just enough bitterness to balance the sweet, and no astringency or discomfort. Medium-full body with carbonation that falls somewhere between medium and low. Just a hint of alcohol warmth in the finish, but very integrated and smooth for a ten percent beer. Leans more heavily on the coffee, and especially the vanilla, than I was expecting, but this is fantastic stuff. A true dessert drink, (or morning depending on how you roll, and I do have a slight caffein buzz) but one that is not overly sweet or thick. I could drink a fair bit of this, with alcohol being a welcome limiting factor before any abrasive flavor characteristics. Ballast Point just nailed in on this one: full of flavor, yet balanced and super drinkable. The vanilla is almost silly at times, but I love the stuff and it really works with the rest of the beer.

Wonderful brew here. Deep brown body with a large, frothy head. The aroma is delicious vanilla and coffee scents. The taste is a creamy vanilla infused coffee. Not too roasted or harsh at all, but full flavored. Perfect body and carbonation. A great treat.

Black pour with a fading frothy head. Aroma is coffee and vanilla extract, roasted malts, sweet bread. Tastes of bitter dark chocolate, packaged hot coco mix and vanilla extract. Overall it tastes pretty artificial, or at least like vanilla extract poured into a porter. Bitter and light bodied. Not great.

Bomber. Opaque black with a half-inch of lasting creamy foam. Aroma is coffee and bitter cocoa with some light cream. Flavor is big with vanilla, balanced by some bitter cocoa, peppery citrus, and coffee. Medium-heavy body is smooth and roasty-dry.