Ballast Point Black Marlin Porter
A hoppy twist on the classic English Porter.
Our Black Marlin Porter stands out in a town known primarily for its IPA’s. We craft it from a unique blend of roasted and crystallized malts that give it a smooth, chocolaty, caramel profile. Then toss in a healthy dose of American hops to serve up full-bodied flavor worthy of its San Diego roots.
Editor’s Note: Old versions were 5.9% abv
Our Black Marlin Porter stands out in a town known primarily for its IPA’s. We craft it from a unique blend of roasted and crystallized malts that give it a smooth, chocolaty, caramel profile. Then toss in a healthy dose of American hops to serve up full-bodied flavor worthy of its San Diego roots.
Editor’s Note: Old versions were 5.9% abv
3.6
773 reviews
San Diego, United States
Community reviews
7 3 8 4 15
Bottle shared at THT July. Dark brown with a small tan head. Aroma of malt, caramel, chocolate and roast. Flavour is moderate sweet and bitter. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Pours a finger and half of head on a black body.
Aroma is mostly molasses, some roasted malt and lemon, and some more molasses.
Taste is molasses, roasted malt and dark chocolate sweet.
Texture is smooth.
Bomber shared by John. Thanks! No date. Pours dark brown with a beige head. Nice aroma of dark chocolate, toffee, coffee. Flavor follows. Dark chocolate, coffee. A bit of pine bitterness in the finish.
Rami Rami is drinking a Black Marlin Porter by Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits at Muzeum Azji i Pacyfiku
Bardzo pijalny, lekki, ladnie zlozony i zrownowazony, czeko jest, kawa jest, lekki w odbiorze, przemily, do picia wiadrami :)
Bottle from Brewfest Beverage. Dark brown with lasting tan head and lace. Chocolate chip cookie dough aroma cocoa with light leafy fruity hop aroma. Chocolate medium sweetness with some fig and and coffee woody medium roasted bitterness with a hint of fruit. Medium light body and fairly oily. Very good.
Kinda disappointing for a Bally Point dark beer, thin and a bit watery, with a modest mocha roastiness but otherwise fairly indistinguishable from a billion other mediocre porters. Aim for the Founders instead.
On tap at Quaker Steak. Pours dark brown with a tan head. Taste and aroma of roasted malt and chocolate. Decent, but not great, porter.
Tap at Hair of the Dog, Phloen Chit, Bangkok. Poured a clear dark brown with a thin broken off white head. The aroma is smokey malt, light earthy, liqourice. The flavour is moderate liqourice bitter with a dry, roasty, light coffee, liqourice hop bitter palate. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Dark brown to black colored, medium frothy tan head. Aroma is of chocolate, roasted malt, dark chocolate, some caramel. Taste is medium sweet malt, some caramel, dark chocolate, roasted coffee, medium cocoa bitterness, dry finish and a lasting roasty bitter aftertaste. Medium bodied, soft carbonation, oily.
(bottle)
It was pretty cool to have one of the original Ballast Point brews at one of their San Diego taprooms. Black Marlin represents a blend of both the English and American Porter styles. There’s a refreshing mineral taste combined with bright roast, hoppy character. Chocolaty body with some subtle notes of cream and coffee. It’s a rich, robust Porter but remarkably easy to drink.
650 ml bottle. Pours a very dark brown with moderate tan head. Aromas of dark fruit syrup, chocolate, and pine. Flavors of dusty dry malts, nuts, dark chocolate and pine. Light. Good
black with a tan head that leaves lacing. aroma is cocoa, coffee, and roast. Flavor is the cocoa, coffee, roast, nuts, and bitter at the end.
Deep black with quickly fading brown head. Roast cocoa nibs dipped in caramel on the nose. Full bodied with deep roast notes like 85% cocoa chocolate spread on toast. Lasting grass filled bitter finish. Outstanding!
Rated by BrewTom
Pours a nice brownish black color. Aromas of espresso, chocolate, and a hint of bitter smoke. Flavor has a burnt chocolate/coffee taste to it, nice touch of creaminess coming in at the end. Damn fine porter.
Bomber from Whole Foods. Pours black with a nice soft tan head. Lots of lacing. Aroma of coffee beans, ash, metal. Taste is coffee, light bitter chocolate, coffee grounds. Just fine, but does not stand out.
Pours a near black from a bottle. Burnt molasses odor with coffee beans, flavor somewhat similar with an oddly thick oily mouthfeel. Meh.
Black/brown pour - thin tan head. Aroma is heavily roasted malt, hint of charred nuts, coffee, chocolate, and a slight grassy hop note. Flavor is a lot more of the heavily roasted malt, dose of dark roast coffee, caramel, and then has a nice hop bitterness to offset things. Palate appropriate for the style. Nice beer overall!
Draft. Pours black with tan head. Nose and taste are coffee, chocolate and a little dark fruit. Some bitterness in the aftertaste.
Dark thick brown pour with good sized brown head. Nose of toasted malt and coffee. Flavor is roasted malt, coffee and dark chocolate. Nice complex finish.
Motor oil brown, opaque, huge tan head with a scent of cocoa, burnt toast and day old milk. A tasty blend of roasted malts, mineral salt, cocoa, has a bitter hop follow mixed with the mineral tanginess of licking a penny. I know that doesn’t sound appetizing but it works.
Beautiful ruby mahogany with a beige head. Semi-sweet with a perfect moderate bitterness. Mild dryness. Cocoa. A great roastiness. Some smokey, peaty goodness. Earth. Molasses. Bit of pine. Hint of fruitiness. Medium body. Excellent.
Bomber from the new IC Hy-Vee. Very dark pour. Smooth beer with lots of coffee, chocolate, and malt. Silky semi-sweet finish.
Damn this is a nice porter. Chocolate, coffee, dark malts aroma. High carbonated, medium bodied. Complex coffee, coffee sourness, chocolate, bitter, balanced. Excellent porter.
Dark brown pour. Nice lacing. Roasty, coffee, chocolate aroma. Mild citrus is noted on the tongue. Very nice.
Bottle pour in nonic pint glass from Lazy Dog, Londonderry, NH. Aroma is understated roasted malt, dark fruits, a bit of chocolate and some alcohol. Appearance is rich, dark, clear mahogany with nice sparkle, minimal off-white head with poor retention and minimal lacing. Taste is roasted malt sweetness with cocoa, late coffee bitterness. Palate is light-to-medium bodied with thin texture, average to lively carbonation. Overall, this is good but not I’m not blown away by it. Aroma and palate are a little weak and taste is not as complex as I’d expect.
Black pour with a two finger froth tan head that has good lacing as the liquid itself leaves a bit of a coating on the glass as well. Aroma is big on mild roast, some chocolate, medium roast coffee, dark caramel, roasted nuts, dense floury chocolate cake, and a bit of piney, deep citrus and earthy hops. Flavor is big on roast, surprisingly big on coffee, lots of dark toasted bread, granola, Riesens candies, dark toffee, a decent helping of char and a bit of spruce. Medium body, creamy to chewy entry, light carbonation and still creamy, but slightly chalkier finish. Damn good porter.
Black, tan lacey head. Aroma is some chocolate and roast. Some breadyness. Taste is as aroma with some earthy herbal, some citrus, tangy bite in finish. Pretty nice porter.
650ml bottle from Brewdog brewery website (£6.00)
Another enjoyable Ballast Point beer, this one was a well-balanced & easy to drink porter from the brewery that came through with good sweetness, some rich chocolate & an earthy bitterness that also boasted the odd subtle hops too. The beer was a ridiculously smooth & easy one to drink & that was perhaps its best feature but the smell & taste weren’t bad either thankfully; I wouldn’t mind having this one again.
Poured from bomber into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours deep-deep brown color with a one finger tan colored head. The head has a moderate level of retention, fading over time to leave a good level of streaky lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is big of a roasty smell, mixed with some grainy aromas and a moderately sweeter smell of chocolate and vanilla. Along with these smells comes some other aromas of a dark fruit nature of cherry and plum along with a little bit of a wood smell.
Taste – The taste begins with a lightly roasted and slightly cocoa sweet flavor. As the taste advances more roast and a little more sweet in the nature of caramel and vanilla come to the tongue. Along with these developing flavors comes some light burnt tastes as well as some more earthy hop flavors. In the end, the mix of hop, sweet, and roast are joined by some grain to leave a moderately dark, but sweeter, kind of weak black IPA like flavor to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is somewhat thin for a porter of 6% abv. with a carbonation level that is average to slightly higher. I would have liked a little less carbonation and a little more chewiness/creaminess for this one; better accentuating the roast and sweet.
Overall – Not bad, but not really anything outstanding either. I was expecting something more in the traditional porter style, but instead was delivered something akin to a black IPA mixed with a porter.
Dark brown with quickly disappearing off white head. Sweetish aroma with chocolate, butterscotch, cocoa and nuts.Somewhat roasted flavor with chocolate and some sweet caramel. A little milky taste. Quite nice.