Ballast Point / Kelsey McNair / Stone San Diego County Session Ale

 
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RATINGS: 340   WEIGHTED AVG: 3.68/5   SEASONAL: Special   EST. CALORIES: 126   ABV: 4.2%
COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
Ballast Point/Kelsey McNair/Stone San Diego County Session Ale was inspired by homebrewing and exceptional quality of life found in San Diego County. A collaborative effort between three San Diego brewers, this aromatic and flavor-driven beer can be enjoyed during any "session." San Diego offers a variety of memorable sessions. Surfing, dining out, homebrewing and conversing with fellw beer enthusiasts are some of my favorites. Positive experiences and good conversations require a careful mix of good people, a little time and more than one tasty beer. As a homebrewer, I was fortunate to have been a customer of both Stone and Home Brew Mart. Now with thirteen years of professional brewing experience, I am honored that Kelsey McNair picked Ballast Point Brewing Company as his inspiration for this award-winning recipe. Created to evoke San Diego County’s best sessions and favorite beer ingredients, this beer was infused with an ample amount of hops. Bright and floral, this brew will leave you inspired and ready for your next session! Cheers to the Stone Crew and Beer Drinkers everywhere, Colby Chandler, Specialty Brewer Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits Hi, I’m Kelsey, and I am a hophead. There’s definitely no shortage of well-hopped India Pale Ales here in San Diego. The local craft brewers are true masters of the style, making some of the finest examples in the world, and a lot of them! If you’re a hophead like me, that’s a pretty good problem to have. These big, aggressively bitter and intensely aromatic brews are the ones I crave the most, but they often pose a dilemma: you can only have a few, yet those bright, complex flavors leave you wanting more. BUT, what if you could find a smaller, more sessionable beer that could really scratch your itch for hops? An "all-day-IPA?" Quantity and quality at the same time! Within this bottle, I think you might find just that. From one hophead to another, I give you Ballast Point/Kelsey McNair/Stone San Diego County Session Ale! A deceptively small beer that is bold, aggressively hopped, assertively bitter, and captures the essense of our local brewing culture. Cheers! Kelsey McNair, Homebrewer North Park Beer Co.

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3.8
Beese (16054) - Tooting, London, Greater London, ENGLAND - SEP 14, 2020
UPDATED: SEP 14, 2020 12oz bottle at Beermongers, Portland, OR on 07/10/2010. A really nice SIPA, with a big grassy and lemongrass nose. Leafy hops in the mix and really good body for a lower abv beer. Nice malty backbone that balances things nicely.

3.4
JPDIPSO (6618) - Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, USA - OCT 28, 2016
Lightly hazed golden colored liquid. Tallish, big bubbled off-white head. Pale, malts, cookies, dough and green fresh hops in the aroma. Sweet pale malt start that seem to wander the whole way through. Seems a bit worty with green hops and malt sugars. Citric zest really takes over in the finish and into the linger. 3/11

4
BuckeyeBoy (16490) - Boise, Idaho, USA - AUG 31, 2016
12oz bottle pours out a peach color topped with white head. Nose is big dank hops honey sweetness and a nice bread malt. Taste is more of the heavy dank hops sweet malts and a nice end . A great session ipa for sure

3.9
Don2711 (689) - Newtownards, NORTHERN IRELAND - MAY 27, 2015
UPDATED: MAY 29, 2015 Full of flavour and aroma. Very hoppy for strength. Good IPA. Sharp on palate but good strength. Second pint was improvement. Caramel spice and molasses all in there.

4.2
slowrunner77 (19964) - Reno, Nevada, USA - OCT 2, 2014
"this has to be destined to become one of the best apas (or ipa lite’s) out there if enough people try it. the problem is it’s $3+ for a single of a session ale with no sixers. but damn, is it good. i can’t beleive a 4% beer can be so jam-packed with flavor and aroma. this easily outdistanced Pursuit of Hoppiness, Trout Hop Black IIPA, Great Divide Fresh Hop Pale, Deadlift, and Back in Black in a tasting. Unanimously. The aroma is huge of grassy floral hops with bitter grapefruit in the flavor. Holy crap. It’s not even very light bodied at 4% but I was dreaming of kicking back with several in a night... 2nd favorite apa next to Alpha King."

3.6
Bov (14982) - Bienne, SWITZERLAND - SEP 24, 2014
@Erzbierschof’s 3rd anniversary; courtesy of Dana Marie - quite hazy dark amber-orange beer with no head retention; the aroma is grassy, caramelish and spicy; medium-bodied and with a late herbal bitterness; more spicy hops, caramel and lemongrass in the finish

3.5
Christpuncher (3215) - Chicago, Illinois, USA - SEP 4, 2014
A nice bitter and Hoppy session beer. Seems like a pale ale with a slightly malty finish. Had a bottle Pour at home. Copper in color with a tan head ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

3.6
GenDV138 (9211) - Falls Church, Virginia, USA - MAR 30, 2014
UPDATED: MAR 31, 2014 12 ounce bottle (Enjoy by 11/10/2010) poured into a tulip. Pours an opaque apricot yellow with a finger of off-white head. Light webby lacing. Aromas of caramel, sweet candied fruit, nutty, bread, citrus. Tasting notes of bitter grapefruit, pine, wheat, bread. Medium body with a semi-dry finish. Juicy mouthfeel, medium carbonation. Obviously the hops have fallen apart but it’s still somewhat drinkable.

2.8
Banksiz (278) - Sacramento, California, USA - JAN 3, 2014
Resiny nose with a very slight corny-vegetable off-flavor. Pleasant slightly oily body. Bitterness was a little hard and astringent, with bitter finish. Flavorful, but didn’t quite work for me.

3.4
BelgianBeerGal (6119) - Panama City, Florida, USA - NOV 22, 2013
Sun Devil Liquor bottle. Pours a slightly hazy brown-orange color with a small white head and no real lacing. Fruity aroma but also some darker molasses in there too; interesting. Definitely some bitterness in the flavor and again some molasses like bite. Lingering bitterness in the finish. Pretty big flavor for a small ABV.


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