Hey everyone, I've seen these are available in DFW area but does anyone know if these can be found in Austin?
I enjoyed it. Strong coconut taste which I like. Personal opinion that Oskar Blue Coconut and Maui Brewing Coconut are better.
I thought it was just ok. Definitely tons of coconut flavor, but it seemed to be a bit thin and not a lot else going on after the wave of coconut.
Ballast Point is a joke now, with all the adjunct variants of the same beer. The peppermint Victory at Sea tasted like toothpaste.
I think the coconut reminds me of suntan lotion, but I really liked it. Did a taste of the peppermint, but not my style. Mint and beer don't mix well for me
I really liked the Coconut Victory Peppermint on the other hand... I know taste is subjective, but I can't believe that one had enough success/accolade in whatever test batching they do to become a widely distributed beer
I tasted samples of several variants on tap, and they were all disgusting. Only the original VaS on nitro was drinkable. Sculpin will always be one of the best beers of all time in my mind, but BP really missed the mark with all of these flavored beers. I understand this is probably a result of the buyout, but who do they think their customers are? The people that will pay $15/6-pack don't tend to care for gimmicky, flavored beers in my experience.
I've had Peppermint, Coconut, and Barrel Aged versions. My favorite is the regular VaS, I don't really get behind having a base beer and having a ton of different adjuncts. BP does this with all their beers, have an outstanding base then change the flavoring with 500 things. When I had Coconut I was like, it's not bad, but it's too bitter and the coconut doesn't smooth it or sweeten it. Too a lesser degree, Death by Coconut is a little more competent. Strong Coconut flavor without being overpowering and took the malt bitterness of so it doesn't taste exactly like a really, really, dark roast of coffee. I like Peppermint a lot, but I wouldn't drink it more than once a year. The peppermint adds a nice aftertaste without being the only thing you taste. If they put that version in rum/some sort of whiskey barrels I'd be behind that. The BA version is quite superb. Really, with the praise I gave Peppermint, I think this should only be the only alternative. The bourbon added such a nice liquorish flavor to the coffee roast. They use a really good roasted malt for their base porter and the coffee only accentuates that. This version has a lot of flavors in it that works well together. If you can find this on draft or in bottle I highly recommend this version. BP is pretty cool place and they make exceptional beer, but like with anything the base is almost always the best and try, un-creatively, make a ton of adjunct beers to see what people like. I.e. Grapefruit Sculpin. This is also all of course within my humble opinion and I happily try these beers when on draft to get a better understanding for their beer.
Subjective I guess, I was kinda opposite with Death by Coconut. I did think that the coconut on VAS Coconut absolutely hammered the coffee to the point where I couldn't pick it up but found that it worked well with the base malt and Vanilla and was rather smooth.
I feel ya there. Kinda the point I'm getting at is I feel it's a little un-inspired to change the adjunct of your really good base beer to see what people will like. Honestly, if I had to choose, I'd pick the regular Vas then the BA version. Not bad, but not worth getting after the first time. DBC, was it feels like they choose coconut around the idea of how the base beer tasted rather than just picking a list of things to add and just trying it out. Guess I wish there was a little more forethought going into the overall design of the brew. Once again, this is conjecture, and I'm not a brewer so I don't know for sure what BP is doing with all their beers. Maybe they look at Vas or Sculpin and say; "wish we could add this the first time round." But it doesn't and I kinda feel I pick that up on my tastebuds. BEER IS ART DAMNIT
