Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

Brewed By: Ballast Point Brewing Company in San Diego, California 
Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Binny's in IL; 2013

Style/ABV: American IPA, 7.0%

Reported IBUs: 70

It's been a while since I've had a straight-up IPA, so why not drink one of the most highly acclaimed ones? About Ballast Point Brewing: 

Like a lot of craft breweries, Ballast Point began as a home brewing outfit. Founder Jack White (not the Jack White) began home brewing, only to realize that sourcing ingredients was easier said than done. So Jack opened up Home Brew Mart, a home brew shop, in 1992. From there, Jack met Yuseff, and the two began brewing in the back of the home brew shop. In 1996 the brewery was born. Because Yuseff loves fishing, the brewery names all their beers after fish. You can read more about the brewery and its history here. 

Tonight's beer, the Sculpin IPA, is critically acclaimed. That basically means this review is pointless, and everything I'm about to say has been said by smarter people. True story. But yeah. According to the Ballast Point website, the Sculpin IPA features aromas and flavors of apricot, peach, mango, and lemon. This is a year-round beer, clocks in at 7.0% and packs 70 IBUs. A six-pack of this cost me around 15 dollars. They also had bombers of this for 7 or 8 bucks (per 22oz). I did the math and the per ounce price was cheaper for the six-pack. 

Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

The beer pours a dark golden/amber color, with two fingers of creamy, foamy, off-white head. There's a lot of carbonation in this, and this one looks to be pretty transparent. In bright light, the beer is a lovely dark gold/bronze color, the head remains off-white. Head retention is nice, with a pinky's worth sticking around. There's some nice lacing too.

The aroma on this is super vibrant, and not at all subtle. It's like that kid in band who played out of tune and then later went on to rock improv. Bright mangos, peach, grass, and biscuit snap smash your nostrils. You definitely get the advertised mango/peach/lemon/apricot party, but throw in some grass, fruit salad, citrus, and other vibrant goodness and that describes the aroma of this beer. It's super inviting...

The taste is equally excellent, as you get vibrant hop kick, really nice bitterness, and noticeable malt character providing support and balance. This is absurdly refreshing and drinkable for 7.0%. I'm getting big peach, grass, strawberry, mango, woody lemon, mild citrus rind, biscuit snap, and nice woody bitterness on the back. There's a hint of toffee abound as well.

This has a medium-full mouthfeel, with a bitter and chewy body that is aided by tons of pleasant carbonation. As I said before, for 7.0%, this is way too drinkable. Despite the drinkability, this has great palate depth, good complexity, and the bittering/dry finish is excellent. This beer makes the 70 IBUs count. The attenuation is nice, and the hop flavor stands up to the bitterness. Add in that dash of malt balance...and yeah. You get the mango/apricot/peach/grass up front; mid palate rolls into lemon, woody lemon, bitterness, citrus rind, and biscuit snap; the back end is lingering toffee, biscuit, woody hop bitterness, and a nicely drying finish. 

Rating: Divine Brew (5/5 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Divine Brew on this. I was going to go lighter, but the drinkability brings this one home. My only gripe is that this could maybe bring up the complexity a bit, but eh. This is a well-made beer that has enough hop flavor to stand up to the immense bitterness and dryness. That's what I like in an American IPA. The light malt balance is a nice touch too. Thus, this is pretty much a top-10 IPA. If you can find it, buy it. If you can buy it regularly, keep some on hand and drink it on the regular. This would pair well with a burger, wings, strong cheeses, Thai food, Korean food, Mexican food, salads, fruit salads, etc.. This is also pretty sessionable for 7.0%. I know, somewhere out there Ding is like, "u what, m8?" Here's my tip: disregard 4.0% ESB, buy Sculpin, apologize to your liver later. 

Random Thought: Fishing. Let's talk about fishing. As a kid, my dad would drag me out to fish as a father-son bonding exercise. It was fun, I won't lie. As I grew older, I realized that while fishing was fun, playing video games in an air-conditioned house is even funner [more fun]. Yeah, I come from that generation, the one that would rather stay in a luxury suite at a hotel drinking pina coladas versus wiping my ass with a leaf after shitting in the woods. The funny thing is, the older you get the more you appreciate fishing. Fishing is undoubtedly one of the most boring activities on earth. However, fishing is one of the few activities where you are allowed to go out on a boat, get the fuck away from your family, your boss, and society, and drink beer and do nothing. Think about that. Fishing = drinking beer and doing nothing. And hey, if you catch a fish that's pretty cool too. Here's my thought: someday, I hope to be on a boat, with six bottles of Sculpin IPA. And hopefully that will be on a Tuesday, because I called in sick.