Black Marlin Porter

While not as elusive as some of their other offerings, Ballast Point's Black Marlin Porter is still a trophy catch.

The bold roasted coffee notes are tempered by sweet chocolate and caramel, but there's also a surprising amount of hoppiness. Rather than impaling you with a sword-like beak of humulus lupulus, Black Marlin's hops live symbiotically with the malt, like a clownfish in coral. The result is a grassy, tobacco-like flavor on the tail end of the sip which blends marvelously into the dark malt. 

Black Marlin has found a port of call within my fridge, and the course has been chartered for my belly.

-Jim Dykstra