Craft Beer Friday

I decided I would combine two of my favorite things--writing and beer.  I love beer.  Cheap domestic in cans (if that's all that is available) to expensive single bottles of limited release beers, I dig all of them.  Do I prefer Michelob Ultra over Anchor Steam Liberty Ale?  Never.  But when in Rome...

So every Friday (forgot to post this last night), I will choose a fine craft beer and give an honest review.  I am not by any means a beer expert, but I know a lot more than most.  Through my review, I hope to convert one non-craft beer drinker over to the dark side--and that dark side is full of wonderful beers, like porters and stouts, the trendy black IPAs, and all of the other wonderful shades of beer in the world.

Today's beer is from Ballast Point Brewing Company (San Diego, CA).  The selection is Sculpin IPA.  To not muddle the review, a quick word or two about the name of the beer.

Ballast Point names many of their beers after fish--a sculpin is a fish.  An IPA, or India pale ale, is a style of beer often brewed with pale malts and has a higher alcohol content (the earliest of these beers were shipped from England to their colonists in India and had to survive the long trip at sea).

Anyway, enough history, back to Sculpin IPA.  The beer was from a 12oz. bottle and the ABV (alcohol by volume) was 7%, high by the average beer standard, but right on par with most IPAs.

Simply stated, it is a wonderful beer.  The beer pours a mostly clear amber, with a generous head.  The beer was sampled out of a 16oz. pilsner glass.  As the beer level lowered, beautiful lacing rimmed the inside of the glass.

As for the smell of this fantastic elixir--imagine the aromatics a freshly peeled grapefruit would give off.  Strong scents of grapefruit and hops are easily noted.  The taste, magnificent.  Big, bold hop notes with the bitterness and boldness of grapefruit make for a great IPA.

Ballast Point Sculpin IPA could be my new favorite IPA.  I still love the beers that Stone, Lancaster, and Dogfish Head are making, but Sculpin certainly ranks among the top.

That's all for now.  After all, the beer did come in a six pack.