Friday, July 30, 2010

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

As I've said so many times before, Ballast Point makes some really bomb beer. Case in point- Victory at Sea.

Victory at Sea is one of Ballast's best and (sadly) another one of their seasonal beers. On a side note, Ballast recently decided to not only make their Sculpin IPA (one of my top 2 favorite beers ever) year-round but to also start bottling it in 6 packs. So...happy...

Victory at Sea is traditionally released in the late fall/early winter so I was really surprised (in the best way ever) to see it was on tap. So as soon as I was done with the San Salvador Saison, it was on to Victory at Sea.

The beer pours an absolute obsidian black with tiny tinges of brown and a slightly thin mocha head. The smell is coffee, coffee, and more coffee. It smells like the best freshly ground coffee you will ever smell.

The taste is smooth with lots of coffee tempered by the sweetness of the vanilla and roasted malts. The mouthfeel is absolutely perfectly smooth. While this beer ends on a bitter coffee note, the finish is smooth enough that it's not jarring at all. If you can find it, try this one. It's one of the best out there.

Final Grade: A+

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