Ballast Point Victory At Sea Coffee Imperial Porter

On tap at Ballast / Home Brew Mart. Muy Grande! Black as a beer can get. No light through this one. Aroma of roasty sweet coffee. Vanilla has backed off over time. Tan head for how black the beer is. Coffee is evident but no astringency associated. Even with the high alcohol the finish is rather dry. Mouthfeel tastes like it should leave more of a cloying effect. Dangerously drinkable. After dinner, next to a fire, with a bowl of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

Holy Java! I can taste the coffee in my colon! It’s like a coffee enema. It’s like Starbucks and Anna Nicole Smith rolled into one. Coffee aroma and flavor was off the hook. When it came to the flavor it was chocolate too. This Black beer didn’t have much head after being drawn from O’Brien’s but I didn’t hold that against it. What a great beer. Wonderful. Is this considered Baltic Porter or does Porter cover it.... Anyway, what a great beer! Did I already say that? Huh must be the 12%... I asked the server for cream and sugar and a cardboard sleeve. I guess I will be here instead of Starbucks tomorrow morning. What a great Beer.

Absolutely! Ab-So-Lutely! I looked for a bottle of this everywhere I went for months, but finally found it on tap at the Stone World Bistro. Dear Lord, yes! It’s like coffee that can get you hammered! This loses minor points on Palette/Flavor because it’s not at all complicated: it’s coffee; and a couple more overall because it’s brilliantly tasty, but I don’t know if I could drink it every day. An absolute masterwork.

On tap and growler from the brewery. Totally HUGE porter with volumes of Caffe Calabria coffee to eloquently mask the 12% alcohol offering. Drinks almost like an iced coffee but with the exact opposite effect, if taken in large doses, as I tend to. The perfect marriage of coffee and ale. Dark, inviting, delicious. This ale should, obviously, go into steady rotation. Limited supply, so hurry up!

Pours a dark black, no light will penatrate this porter, with a thick, creamy tan head. Aroma of coffee. Taste of coffee and chocolate. This would stand up nicely to Speedway, I’d love to get some to do a side by side.