Every Thursday, Ballast Point releases something a little special. Some weeks, it will be the return of a popular beer to the tap lines. Other weeks, they will release a new variation of one of their standard beers. And then there are weeks where they bring out something completely different. Today was one of those Thursdays. Today Ballast Point released a completely new beer called Tongue Monster. This beer is a blend of two of Ballast's stronger and more popular beers, Sea Monster and Tongue Buckler, which has then been aged for 8 months in bourbon barrels. Ballast Point themselves admitted that they didn't know if this would be a hit or an abomination. Either way, it was a beer I wasn't going to miss. Plus, how can you go wrong with a name like "Tongue Monster"? It sounds like Godzilla's porn name. Alright, before I get too off track, let's move on to the tasting.
Tongue Monster pours a black color with some slightly reddish tinges when held to the light. It's capped by a nice one finger light brown head that lasts beautifully. The barrel aging is definitely evident in the smell, especially right after the beer is poured. Along with the bourbon, I got a little bit of soy sauce and smoke. Once the beer began to warm a bit, another side of the beer emerged and the smell changed to notes of toasted coconut, caramel and tootsie roll.
The taste is really something else. The beer starts off sweet with some coconut, caramel and dark chocolate flavors with a hint of roasted malt in the back. Then comes the Tongue Buckler and a pretty nice hit of citrus hops. The mouthfeel is nice and creamy and the bourbon is kept from being too dominant in the taste. This was definitely one of Ballast Point's stranger experiments that I've tried, but you can put this one down as a success.
Final Grade: A-
Top 100 Beers Tasted: 22
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