Ballast Point Brewing Company Sea Monster

Sea Monster

 

Ballast Point Brewing Company in San Diego, California, United States 🇺🇸

  Stout - Imperial Rotating
Score
7.51
ABV: 10.0% IBU: 65 Ticks: 120
Our Sea Monster Imperial Stout explores the darkest reaches of the traditional oatmeal stout. This bold, rich brew first lures you in with roasted coffee notes, then grabs hold with hints of bittersweet chocolate and currant. Backed with a perfect hop balance, you’ll soon discover this is one monster of mythic proportions.
 

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8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 9 Texture 8 Overall 7
Bomber. Poured a deep brown to black with little head. Chewy oatmeal and coffee an bitter chocolate. Quite good.
Tried on 20 May 2025 at 01:13

7.9/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Bottle at home. Aroma is oats, dark malt, roast, chocolate, dark fruity notes, liquorice, some coffee, hint of vanilla. Flavour is moderate to medium sweet with some roasty bitterness in the finish. Body is medium to full. This is no Victory At Sea, but it’s a delicious Imperial Stout regardless.
Tried from Bottle on 13 Feb 2025 at 05:00

7/10
Super boozy, overly cold to start. Coffee; strong, lots of barrel age
Tried on 06 Jan 2023 at 19:10

7/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7
Bottled. Black colour with a mediumsized beige head. Aroma is liquorice, liquorice root, some coffee, alcohol and mild spiciness. Flavour is coffee, chocolate, salted liquorice, some peppery tones along with mild alcohol to it. Warm spicy heat to it in the finish and aftertaste.
Tried from Bottle on 31 Dec 2022 at 18:41

7.2/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 8
Bottle from Highland 3-1-15
Tried from Bottle on 29 Sep 2020 at 00:03

8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 9 Flavor 9 Texture 6 Overall 8
Bottle. Aroma is smoky, roasty, marshmallow, toast, savoury. Taste is fruity, bit of smoke again, slightly spicy. Pretty good. Smooth but with an edge.
Tried from Bottle on 09 Sep 2019 at 15:53

7.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 6.5
650 ml bottle. Pours black with a short tan head. Aromas of dark berries, coffee, dark sugar and sweet roasted malts. Flavors of acidic coffee, sugar, vanilla, licorice and dry roasted malts.
Tried from Bottle on 04 Apr 2018 at 02:44

7.6/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
(Bottle) Black colour with creamy, beige head. Malty, roasted nose with liquorice, dark chocolate, cacao, sweet black coffee and roasted oats. Malty, roasted taste with notes of liquorice, salmiac, espresso, dark chocolate, cacao, dark fruit, a touch of whisky and a bitter-sweet finish with a generous cacao bitterness. Full body, with a certain sweetness. Quite powerful and a bit boozy, but really tasty and well made. Very nice.
Tried from Bottle on 29 Mar 2018 at 20:46

7.4/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
$8.49 bomber, Wine Warehouse. Pours deep brown, nearly but not quite black with a small brown head. Aroma is chocolate, rose hips, vanilla, coffee. Flavor is bittersweet chocolate - both milk and dark, coffee, caramel, vanilla, I swear I taste rose hips. Finishes with a long lingering dark-chocolate bitterness. Happy Friday.
Tried on 29 Dec 2017 at 11:56

8.2/10 Appearance 10 Aroma 7 Flavor 9 Texture 8 Overall 8
From Dec 2007

I purchased this bottle from South Bay Drugs & Liquor. Thanks Joey!

This beer pours from 22oz bottle a pitch black with a nice 2 finger head of tannish foam. It's a very appealing sight in my Sam Adams glass.

The smell is very sweet. I'm getting a big caramel malt nose along with some chocolate and some roasted malt.

The taste...Yummy. Roasted malt, chocolate, coffee, and all are there in ridiculously high abundance. The more I sip on it, the more I notice the coffee and roasted malt flavour. This is a very compelling Imperial Stout to drink. The relatively low abv for the style really helps when it comes to drinkability. It has a medium to medium full mouthfeel and it's fairly lightly carbonated. The finish has an ever so pleasing mix of coffee and chocolate that you *just* don't want to see end.

This is the my first experience with a Ballast Point brew and oh, I just noticed that the label says it is 8%bv. The alcohol is hidden *very* well. This is a winner in my book and if you're a fan of coffee and chocolate in an American Double/Imperial Stout, I can only recommend it highly. This is damn good stuff!
Tried from Bottle on 01 Nov 2017 at 12:11