I almost forgot how much I love a good Porter.  The style seems to get a bit lost because most of our attention always goes towards Stouts, especially when we start talking about Imperial versions.  There are not a lot of bottled Imperial Porters, but lucky for us in Hawaii, we have Ballast Point’s Victory At Sea Imperial Porter.  San Diego based Ballast Point distributes a full line up of beers to Hawaii that are available at most quality bottle shops and on tap at many bars around town.

Victory At Sea is a huge, rich and warming beer that is best for sharing with friends, coming in at 10% abv.  It is brewed with coffee and vanilla, which is apparent instantly in the aroma and even more so once you taste it.  There are deep roasted characters and just a slight smokiness that is perfectly balanced by the hop bitterness.  But the star of this beer is the vanilla and coffee.  Pouring Victory At Sea into a glass is like scooping a bowl of your favorite coffee and vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of chocolate.  In fact, I bet Victory At Sea would make an incredible ice cream float!