Brewery: Ballast Point
Country: USA
Size: 35.5cl
ABV: 7%
Price: 28kr
Systembolaget: 89177
A few years ago, you couldn’t go out to the pub without being hit with a barrage of IPAs. Everywhere you turned it seemed like they were everywhere. Some of these were indeed great, but there were also a lot of sub par beers riding the hipster IPA wave. Luckily though there were a few ales that rose to the top of the pile. One of these the Sculpin by Ballast Point. It is an excellent beer that really was the epitome of the trend. It so popular Ballast Point expanded the range and included variations including pineapple, habenero and grapefruit. What sounds better than a pineapple IPA for a summer beer tasting? So I bought in a few bottles and I have to say it’s a success.
The colour was like clear melted caramel, with a nice white head that held well. When pouring it was evident it had a nice thick body to it. expected more pineapple. The aroma was of a fruity freshness combined with a deep, robust hoppiness. I didn’t detect much pineapple there though. I really though that it would have been at the forefront. I mean it was a nice IPA smell but where’s the pineapple? It was quite bubbly on the tongue and coated it well with its thick body. The hops as you would expect are the main aspect of the taste character coupled with a light apricot, grass and lemon. A slight pineapple tone appeared in the aftertaste after a while but it tastes quite a long time to get there. There was little to no alcohol burn detected which is well done for a 7% beer.
As an IPA it worked great but the pineapple doesn’t come through as prominently as the name suggested. If a name says it is “something”, that flavour needs to break through and be more dominant. I hold Ballast Point to a high standard but I feel they didn’t quite hit the mark with this one. I just hoped for a bit more juiciness to be squeezed out of this. I would still drink it again, but I could just as easily drink the regular Sculpin instead. The habanero IPA is next on the list if I can get my hands on it. Just as long as all the hipsters haven’t drunk them all already…