Ballast Point Sculpin IPA (North Star)

Pours with a large, rocky, yellow tinged head covering a hazy yellow body. Aroma of apricot, pine, mango and some caramel. Taste is pine bitterness with some exotic fruit. Syrupy with lively bubbles...have since had on cask...this stuff is awesome!

Bottle sampled at the brewery for RBSG 08. Pours a clear gold, with a light white head. Citrus hops aroma, both sweet and bitter, with nice fruit notes. Taste is clean, bitter, and hoppy. Lingering clean bitterness. Very refreshing and tasty IPA.

Bottle poured at the brewery during RBSG 08. Golden color, tightly packed white head, good lacing. Caramel malt aroma with accents of tropical citrus and stone fruit. Flavor is cakey malt, orange, grapefruit, and pineapple, with a solid bitterness. Long dry finish, extremely drinkable.

Bottled at Ballast Point. Poured a nice shade of medium golden with a creamy cap of white head. The aroma was juicy with pears, grapefruit, and pineapple represented.. just enough malt to balance, but the hops definitely steal the show. Soft bread and toffee wash over the tongue with building bitterness toward the edges (juicy grapefruit and pine primarily).. excellent balance. Juicy and well-presented on the palate with bitterness riding the finish for a good couple minutes. Fantastic!

Bottle from Stan at Lone Hill. A good recommendation - not as citrus juicy as I like them, but I was intrigued with the mango notes. If the bottle you get is off, however, gets malty fast and starts to taste English. Beware!

In short: An amazingly drinkable well-malted and ultra hoppy IPA. Complex, never aggressive, extra-refreshing. Fantastic
How: Bottle 22oz. About 3 to 4 months old. Big thanks to the simultaneous generosity of drewbeerme and hapjydeuce. I’ve got one more to drink!!! Yeah! You guys rule!
The look: Partly cloudy glowing orange topped by a small white head
In long: Ultra-hoppy orangy nose. Pillowy well-malted body. Malt sweetness has sponge cake flavour and mouthfeel. Enormous amount of hops. Next to the sponge-cake maltiness I had orange peels dipped in caramel, cedar, dried bananas, honey, some pineapples and some sponge cake. Pillowy body with a soft-medium carbonation. That dry cedar flavour fit so well in there. This is not a simple hop-juice IPA, this is rich, complex yet highly refreshing. Simply put this is one of the best “small” IPA I’ve ever had. I can’t believe people in San-Diego can drink that on a daily basis. I hate you guys, I hate everyone from San-Diego, may you all drown in your San-Diego beer. But before you do, one more trade please.

Ordered this beer from South Bay Drugs and Liquor. Thanks Joey! This is probably my favorite IPA and I’ve only had it twice. It poured a nice thick off white head and it has a beautiful golden color. The smell is just exceptional, above and beyond any other IPA I have ever had. Smells floral, grassy, piney, grapefruit, pineapple, and mango. Just all sorts of things going on in the smell and this translates directly into the taste. It tastes nice and hoppy, similar to the smell, and it also has a nice malty sweetness then a lingering, pleasant bitterness at the end. The mouthfeel is pretty good and the drinkability is amazing. This is really the best IPA I have had to date and I will definitely try to get some more in the future. Highly recommended!

22oz Bottle: Pours a clear bright orange with a thin white head. Big aromas of citrus! Hops dominate the taste with pine and orange coming through the best. It’s such an in your face experience that also delivers bits of tropical fruit. The body seemed medium to lighter but it could be the carbonation. This has become one of my favorites IPAs. Too bad we won’t see it for a while.