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Description:
Our Victory at Sea Imperial Porter is a bold, smooth brew with just the right amount of sweetness. We infused this robust porter with whole vanilla beans and San Diego’s own Caffe Calabria coffee beans. The subtle roasted notes and minimal acidity of the cold brewed coffee, balances perfectly with the sweet caramel undertones of the malt, creating a winning combination for your palate. (Description provided by company)
Brewer:
Beer Style:
ABV:
10.00% ABV
Availability Frequency:
Rotating
Containers Available:
bottle
draft
Locations Where Available:
East Coast
Great Lakes States
Colorado
Texas
Arizona
West Coast
Store/Serve Temperature:
close to 55 degrees F
Comments
Ballast Point wins
Ballast Point’s Victory at Sea is an imperial porter brewed with coffee and vanilla. It pours dark as midnight with a thick, bubbly, creamy brown head, not unlike a root beer float. The nose is mostly nutty, which was a bit unexpected. Coffee and vanilla notes are there, but muted. They come out in the flavor much more. That flavor is strong: lots of coffee, lots of vanilla, and a pretty bitter finish. The mouthfeel is a little bit thin, but the higher ABV provides enough heft that I’m not too disappointed (as is often the case for me with porters).
Charred Remains from the War
Victory at Sea is nearly black with a thumb thick tan head with staying power. There is something about the vanilla blending with the dark chocolate that gives a charcoal smell to me. Taste is dark chocolate and bitter coffee. Really quite a bit of malt bitterness here. To me, is is too rich, too roasted, and too bitter.
A moral victory!
Pours a dark black with a bubbly and clingy tan head which settles down to a half finger or so with some nice lacing sticking around.
Lots of vanilla aroma along with dark chocolate and a surprising nuttiness. The taste is a bit stronger on the dark malts and vanilla, with a hint of the 10% ABV in the finish.
Lots of dark malt roasty and bitter flavors the addition of vanilla and coffee don't necessarily balance out the strong dark beer flavors, but they do add an extra depth if you're a fan of the style.