With the warmer weather of spring (finally) here, I wanted my staff review for this month to be something from a highly-regarded brewer but that is easy to find almost anywhere. While taking a trip down the beer aisle, my curiosity was piqued by the Ballast Point Even Keel - a session IPA with the surprisingly low ABV of 3.8%. Is it possible to have good IPA-style taste from a beer with such a low ABV. I had to know!
Our Pineapple Sculpin IPA came from one of many small-batch cask experiments to enhance the flavor of our signature IPA. With so many tropical hop notes in Sculpin, how could we not try adding some sweet, juicy pineapple?
Our Watermelon Dorado Double IPA is not one to back down from big flavors. Mash, kettle, and dry hopping blend to create a huge hop profile that is balanced with a blast of watermelon. The result is a refreshing brew that is all summer and no seeds. (Description provided by company)
A coffee ale with a touch of cream.
The Commodore came out of our search for a medium-bodied American Stout. The recipe began at our R&D pilot brewery, but quickly became a favorite of our crew.
Inspired by the hoppier West Coast BarleyWines in the late ’80s and early ’90s. This American Barley Wine is full of rich roasted caramel flavors and the spice and aroma from many hop additions.
Pours with abundant curtaining that settles into an opaque onyx color with red highlights and a thick beige head from the nitro treatment. Subtle aromas of a freshly made cappuccino, milk chocolate and roasted raw barley.
Ballast Point’s Brewing and Spirits Navigator Doppelbock is inspired by the strong German dark lagers and bock’s. Briess Extra Special malt helps create the source of the flavors that dominate the aroma and taste buds in Navigator.
Reef Rye Brown Ale contains nine different grains (32% Rye), two varieties of hops, and our proprietary yeast strain. Reef Rye is an attempt to make an otherwise boring style of beer (Brown Ale) very interesting.
Inspired by the Rauch Bier’s of Bamberg, Germany, Abandon Ship Smoked Lager contains German Malted Barley smoked over Beechwood and fermented cold with lager yeast. Imagine a Märzen/Oktoberfest-style base beer with a sweet, smoky aroma and flavor.