Feb 1, 2018

Ballast Point High West Victory at Sea

Ballast Point has been under Constellation Brand ownership for just over two years now. It wasn’t a conscious effort on my part, but I don’t believe that I’ve purchased many of their brews in that time. Regardless of who now owns the company, if they keep making beers like this High West Victory at Sea, I may make more of a concerted effort to check them out.

The brewery has taken portions of an already good imperial porter (that I’ve enjoyed many times through the years) and aged them in High West Distillery bourbon and rye whiskey barrels. The individual beers were then blended and packaged. The result is a big porter (12% ABV) that presents an incredibly smooth array of rye and bourbon barrel influences, old wood, coffee, chocolate notes, molasses and a solid roastiness. Full bodied and appropriately warming, High West Victory presents a rich and dynamic character that also carries a touch of late forming hop bitterness at the edges.

It’s hard to justify giving money to conglomerates that own smaller brands like Ballast Point, but this is a damn fine imperial porter. This is an outstanding beer that presents a great flavor profile. I’m not sure how it would age in your own cellar, but it shows extremely well freshly packaged.