Ballast Point Black Marlin (Special Sour Version)

Brewed by Ballast Point Brewing Company
Style: Sour Ale
San Diego, California USA

Stone Sourfest. Descent offering. Definately tastes like a porter with brett. Interesting and sour.

Sampled at the Stone Sour Fest. Wow, favorite of the day. Very nice sour aromas and flavors yet still very porterish. Cherry and some citrus like sourness with a nice roasted malt flavor and some burnt malt finish. Very good.

On-tap at Stone Sour Fest. This brew was the absolute, hands-down favorite of the day for me. Pours dark red/brown with a small, resilient, light brown/red head. Smells malty and sour with some fruit, cherries or grapes. Tastes malty and fruity, cherry. Very good. The malt flavors are definitely still there from the base beer they are just transformed by the sour and fruit. Medium body, good carbonation.

I have always held Ballast Point Black Marlin up there among my favorite porters. When i saw this on the Sour Fest list of beers, I ejaculated in my pants and had to spend 2 1/2 hours cleaning the stains out. The pour was dark but as it traveled through the air from the tap to the glass, the light reflected off in brilliant sparks of red. The bubbles raced to the top of the glass ending in thin tan congregation. The nose was tame, showing chocolate, smoke, and coffee notes but not much of a hint of the sourness to come. The flavors were sour gang raped...in a sexxxy kind of way. Mouthfeel was thick & chocolaty but at the same time it was tart, funky, and sour. It all remains perfectly clean as well. Interestingly, the sourness here takes front row rather than being a novel addition and the chocolate porter qualities act as a brilliant and innovative background. Brilliant...If i could by bottles of this as the store, I wouldn’t have to masturbate as much.

Sampled at the Second Anual Stone Sour Festival on 7/20/2008. Very pleasant aromas of sour funk and flavors of wood and sour tart fruit. Excellent!

5th taster @ Stone Sour Fest 2008. Pours opaque with a slight ruby hue when held to the sun. Nose of tart dark fruits with some oak. The flavor held sweet and sour dark fruits and smoky oak, a great surprise at the fest.

On tap at Stone’s Sour Fest 2008. This was very popular and highly talked about at the fest. I wasn’t expecting much from a sour porter, but this transformed into something excellent. Wow. Illusions of dark cherries with the medium sourness and dark reddish color. Leans sweet. Love it.

1st Rating, tap @ 2nd Annual Stone sour fest. Pours black with a touch of red. Nose is sweet with a lot of black currant. Taste is sweet with more black current. What I’d like to know is where is the original black marlin in this?