Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

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

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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22oz bottle. Upon initial nosing, you would think this were an IIPA. Heavy resiny aroma. Honey glazed candied ginger. Tangerine and tropical fruit essences with a heavy, sweet malt base. Fresh and spritzy. Spruce. Wet grass and tree bark. Plenty of wet, juicy hops. Pours a mostly clear copper with a decent white head. Flavor has plenty of wet hoppiness. Spruce tips. Fairly resinous. Lots of residual sugar mid-palate but finishes quite dry and doughy. There’s also a good tropical fruit flavor as well. Fairly creamy on the tongue with bright carbonation and a lengthy, dry, bitter finish. Thanks Eben!

22oz bottle. Poured a slightly hazy medium orange color. The head was foamy and white with pretty good retention. Some tattered lace was left behind on the glass at the end. Very attractive, fruity aroma with citrus and pineapple elements. There was also some distinct, but less prominent spruce. Dry up front with moderate hop bitterness of about 5-6 out of 10. Some sweetness emerged toward the end and balanced out the bitterness to some degree. Body was on the lighter end of the spectrum without being thin/watery. Hop flavors including the likes of citrus (grapefruit and orange rind) and pine were present throughout. Some malty caramel and graham cracker flavors were also there (mostly at the end) and lingered with the citrus after the finish. In general, the flavors and aromas improved as the beer warmed up a bit. I really liked this one.

22 oz Bottle from Churchill’s in San Marcos. Pours cloudy amber orange with a fluffy white head. Sweet aroma of hops and citrus. Flavor begins with sweet hops and ends with hints of lemon and orange. A very very good IPA!

22 oz bottle. Clearish orange with a whitish head. Nose is mango, pineapple and musk. Crisp, with a tingle; substantial but light enough to refresh. Taste is orange pith, mango and toffee. Finish is dry grapefruit zest with herbal hints.

Light gold colour. Massive aroma - explosive orange and melon. Superbright. Bitter body, so much it’s sweet with lots of melon, fresh fruits. Not the most balanced but what a great aroma.

Clear orange color with a big white head. Knock-out nose of fresh hops...pine and hibiscus. Flavor is awesome with hops, honey and tasty malts. Easy to drink and very approachable. Loved it.

Bottle via trade with mikesgroove. Pours amber orange with 2 finger creamy white head. pine, honey, peach, apricot, and flro hops. Starts witha slight malty backbone and quickly becomes floral honey hopped drying your mouth with hop bitterness. A really good ipa, but i wouldn’t trade for another.

UPDATED: JUL 26, 2009 bottle shared thanks to zinister. Pours a clear orange with a thin white head. Nose was of floral and citrus hops. Oranges. The taste was of orange and lemon citrus with hops just blowing you away! Mouthfeel was very hoppy up front. Super harsh and super bitter. Wow!

Bottle at toncatcher’s. Pours a clear yellow with an off-white head. Quite bitter. and very hoppy of grapefruits. Light alcohol notes. Medium bodied. Soft carbonation. Bitter finish with metallic notes.

Strong citrus bitter hop nose. Gold amber, with a small head and great lacing. A little syrupy. Tart acidity undertones. Citrus hops dominate the palate, lemon, grapefruit. Bitter hop carbonation, and slight lingering bitterness aftertaste.