Tag Archives: sculpin

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Ballast Point Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, USA

Ballast Point Unfiltered Sculpin

Monday, 5 February 2018 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 70 IBUs. Exrta-hopped India Pale Ale

Brewer Description: (from website) Our trophy beer, extra-hopped and unfiltered. Our Unfiltered Sculpin IPA packs extra hops into every sip, enhancing the classic Sculpin notes of fresh apricot, peach, mango and lemon with a slight haze and less bitterness. Freshness is key to every beer, but especially true for this extra-hopped IPA—store cold and drink soon.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.85
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 17321, meaning that it was bottled on 17th November 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy bright copper orange colour with quite a bit of floaties slowly settling at the bottom of the glass. There was also a two finger off white head that had great retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Tropical fruit mango, pineapple and apricot at the start followed closely by grapefruit and light pine.
Taste: Sweet-ish pineapple, orange and apricot followed by bitter grapefruit zest, citrus rind, pine and a light touch of biscuit at the end.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice and easy to drink and an interesting twist on the original. However, I definitely prefer the original and grapefruit version over this. Still worth a try though.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Ballast Point Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, USA

Ballast Point Pineapple Sculpin

Saturday, 12 March 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 70 IBUs.

Brewer Description: (from website) Our Pineapple Sculpin IPA came from one of many small-batch cask experiments to enhance the flavor of our signature IPA. With so many tropical hop notes in Sculpin, how could we not try adding some sweet, juicy pineapple? The combination of fruity flavors and hop intensity definitely packs a punch.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.87
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 16036, meaning it was bottled on 5th February 2016. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear golden colour with a fluffy two finger white head that has good retention and leaves thick puffy lacing.
Aroma: Pineapple juice, sliced pineapple and a touch of mandarin.
Taste: The pineapple is there, but unlike how prominent it was in the aroma, it was pretty light and only in the background. Instead, I got mainly pine and grassy hop bitterness followed by a hint of pineapple.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, medium bodied with mid to high carbonation.
Overall: I loved the pineapple aromas coming from this beer. However, flavour wise, I like my pineapple’s sweet, so I think this may have been a problem when trying to incorporate pineapple flavours into an IPA. In this case, even the lightness of the pineapple doesn’t seem to blend in too well with the bitterness and just confuses my pallet. It just didn’t match up to the original Sculpin which was nicely tropical nor the Grapefruit Sculpin where the grapefruit matches well with the hop bitterness.

5 - Excellent (must buy), American IPA, Ballast Point Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, USA

Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin

Thursday, 31 December 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 70 IBUs. India Pale Ale with natural grapefruit flavors.

Brewer Description: (from website) Our award-winning IPA, with a citrus twist. Our Grapefruit Sculpin is the latest take on our signature IPA. Some may say there are few ways to improve Sculpin’s unique flavour, but the tart freshness of grapefruit perfectly complements our IPA’s citrusy hop character. Grapefruit’s a winter fruit, but this easy-drinking ale tastes like summer.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.6
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a bottled code date of 15225 (I think… as it is a little bit ineligible) which means 13th August 2015, and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear golden and slightly orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly but left nice lacing.
Aroma: Wow… a wonderful fresh pink grapefruit aroma coupled with some light tropical fruit.
Taste: Strong grapefruit bitterness with hints of citrus lemon and light sweet bready caramel malts in the background.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium but prickly carbonation.
Overall: Much like the original Sculpin, this grapefruit version was also really good. The aromas were especially good, like fresh grapefruit. Taste was nice as well, but could be slightly improved with more fruitiness. Having said that, although Grapefruit Sculpin falls under my must buy list, I do prefer the original Sculpin just a tad bit more.

5 - Excellent (must buy), American IPA, Ballast Point Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, USA

Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

Tuesday, 18 August 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 70 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A trophy beer that’s a testament to our homebrew roots. Our Sculpin IPA is a great example of what got us into brewing in the first place. After years of experimenting, we knew hopping an ale at five separate stages would produce something special. The result ended up being this gold medal-winning IPA, whose inspired use of hops creates hints of apricot, peach, mango and lemon flavors, but still pack a bit of a sting. Just like a Sculpin.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.77
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A 22 fl oz bomber with a bottled code date of 15063 which means 4th March 2015, and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: The beer poured a very nice clear golden orange colour with a two and a half finger white head that dissipates slowly leaving a thin foamy layer and thick lacing.
Aroma: Nice strong aromas with tropical mango and peach strongest followed by apricot, citrus orange and some pine.
Taste: Starts with citrus grapefruit and some light bready malts, followed by tropical fruits mainly mango, apricot and pineapple, hints of pine and finishes with bitter grapefruit once more.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation and very refreshing
Overall: Stunning and absolutely loved it. One of the best IPA’s out there in my opinion. A definite must buy for me. And now I just need to try an even fresher version.

words of another dreamy traveller