No matter how many times I drink this beer, I’m still amazed at how smooth it is. Many have forgotten the idea behind the barrel-aging of beer, which I assumed is to add character to the different styles. Putting beer into a barrel of spirits to add a layer of depth. I don’t think it was ever, “Let’s see how boozy we can make this stout?” But, maybe I’m wrong? NAH!

Victory At Sea is already a great porter, infused with vanilla and San Diego’s own Caffe Calabria coffee beans, it’s delightful. Then you take that beer and place it into some of the most sought after bourbon barrels from High West, and it’s a yearly treat you do not want to miss out on.

I stumbled across a 4-pack, and have never really had the same opinion of barrel-aged beer since. The bourbon nuances are not aggressive. On the contrary, it melds so well with the base beer, that it’s hard to think of it as a BBB.

How can I explain this better? Well, some Bourbon Barrel-Aged Beers (BBB’s) are just super boozy and feel like all they did was throw the liquid into a barrel to see what happened. BBA Victory At Sea is so smooth, it feels like they tinkered with this until perfection.

Maybe it’s the barrels, maybe it’s the base beer, maybe it’s the perfect combination? You aren’t smacked in the face by booze, rather it’s subtle. Mid-beer, you might even forget it’s been aged. Light vanilla, light java, followed by a Tootsie Roll trail 0f bourbon. After drinking this beer, you’ll wonder why so many other bourbon barrel-aged beers are just booze bombs?  I now find myself wondering the same thing.

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