Good afternoon all. It's time to continue with yesterday's beer odyssey! After a great bottle of Rapture from the wizards at Magic Rock, my next beer was Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point Brewing Company. This beer has garnered a lot of positive feedback and seems to be a firm favourite with the BrewDog scamps, being featured at all of their bars and on their online shop last year (which was where I picked it up from coincidentally!). It seems that hops were definitely the order of the day/evening, so I was looking forward to this one a lot. Review after the pic....
Sculpin IPA (7.0% ABV) pours a golden colour with a short lived white head that settles to a thick halo around the inside of the glass. There's plenty of lacing throughout the duration of the beer, most likely as a result of the bottle-conditioning. The aroma is hoppy as expected, but it's a combination of resinous/piney hops and fruity aroma hops, with grapefruit, citrus, malt and a background sweetness. The taste is comprised of resinous hops, pine, tropical fruits and a caramelised sweetness, with a light bitterness in the finish and a fruity aftertaste. The mouthfeel is moderately carbonated and not overly thick. Overall, a very well-balanced IPA that packs a lot of hop flavour (both piney and fruity) into an exceedingly drinkable experience. I can definitely see what all the hype was for and I'd get it again in a heartbeat.
Until next time....
