Ballast Point Sculpin IPA (North Star)

Brewed by Ballast Point Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
San Diego, California USA

APPEARANCE: Pours a clear gold color with a medium white head that dissipates at an average rate. Very long lasting lacing. SMELL: Sweet citrus (grapefruit) and pine. Hint of apricot. TASTE: Caramel with pine and citrus. Finish is hoppy but not overpowering. MOUTHFEEL: Medium to full bodied beer with a sticky texture. Fizzy carbonation. DRINKABILITY: This is a great tasting beer. Nice balance of sweet and bitter.

Thanks to Kaiser81 for trading this one to me. Pours yellow-orange with a small white head. The beer is very clear. The aroma is strong citrus hops, lots of peach and mango. Very nice smelling beer. There is good bitterness and hop flavor, with lots of pine and citrus. The pine is mainly evident in the aftertaste. Medium mouthfeel and very drinkable. Outstanding beer.

Bomber thanks to GorditoABD! Thanks Chris! Pours a beautiful golden honey color, with a solid two finger head. Smells like Hops on top of hops. Pure pine resin and grapefruit rind. Taste is almost chewy its so wonderful of grapefruit. Finish is bitter and citrusy..Good stuff. If California falls off into the ocean, perhaps we can at least save San Diego.

Great brew, shared a bottle w rciesla. Very unique taste for an IPA, which i was very much a fan of. Snag this up when possible, great beer

Huge fruit/lemon nose, pours nice off yellow with off white head. Smells of depp citrus hops, and taste is complex. Upfront is mango, lemon, apricot, and orange with a quick blast that leads into a slight bittering aftertaste. Excellent IPA, unlike any other!

Draught at the brewery. Gold with a white head that laces the glass well. The aroma is one of the most intense hop blasts that i have ever stuck my nose into. Pine, peach, apricot, and mango are just HUGE in the nose. The flavor has the same gigantic juicey hops but a relatively low bitterness that perfectly balances the bone dry malt. Speaking of malt flavor, you’d struggle to pick out much if anything through the hop juice. Medium, almost light bodied with medium carbonation. This is really a hop paradise on tap. I had a bottle a couple days after sampling it on tap, and while excellent (maybe a 4.2) it didn’t quite live up to sucking this nectar right out of the brewery’s tap. Very similar to Pliny in that freshness is the world.

Stefanje with another gem! Thanks bro! Orange pour. Tons of caramel and citrus on the nose. Flavor is bitter and sweet. More hops than caramel, but malt is present. Good, very good!

Overall an exceptional beer. Very unassuming given the competition out there in CA and this style. Really seaking out more and more of the Ballast Point seasonal / rare beers has become an addiction. This was widely available, but very very quickly dissapeared, though lost forever. Very lucky that a friend had some extra bottles that got "lost" for me to have the opportunity to purchase again. Will drink 1 more soon, and keep the other 2 for the next several years. Has more oil and orange flavors than other IPA’s. Complexity of hops thru the finish is what makes this stand out. I can now see why you would ever want to buy a case of a craft beer after this experience. Usually you want to move onto the next one, here you want to come back again and again. Re-tasted again last night... This beer continues to WOW me. The smell is mesmorizing. The hops perfume are very complex and creamy on the nose. Intense and balanced. Great mid and finish also but the star is the nose. Glad I was able to buy more again this week from a hidden stache, which is now no more. Maybe rating this too low.