Victory At Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter - Ballast Point Brewing Company

thecheapies

Pennsylvania

4.46/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 5

Bomber dated 'Enjoy By 11/06/13'.

Pours extremely dark, like a brown-black. I elevated the bottle during the pouring and it produces about an inch and a half of cappuccino-like foam. Retention is superb. Lacing is plus-plus.

Rich coffee porter scents boosted with a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract. Liqueury, but not entirely sweet. Robust roasty grain notes mesh in, and well. The vanilla really brings out the mocha character in this beer with notes of chocolate syrup and marzipan. Some hazelnut, too. Hints of Fig Newton and citrus/pine hops. Truly phenomenal.

Impressive! Great 'cup of joe' flavor. Tastes like a coffee (black) with a teaspoon of sugar and a half-teaspoon of vanilla extract just as I depicted in the nose description. Big time vanilla presence and it almost intensifies the already slightly unruly alcohol note. Still, it's stiff and burly with hefty amounts of hop and roast bitterness. Lots of kilned grain char and earthiness and dark roast coffee, but there's a sweeter butterscotch note in the middle that can't be left out of my evaluation. Char, too, like burnt popcorn. Hops play a few cards, citrus and pine, but these are all small hands. Very minor fruit notes recall fig and cherry. Has flavor you want to write about all day.

Drinks with a medium-plus body. Heady booze and striking carbonation; I mean, this beer is alive and ready. Just a little too amped-up.

Ha! I'd rate this very high as an Imperial Stout. American Porter, you say? Fuhgeddaboudit!!

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2013 04:23:36 | More by thecheapies

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