High West Barrel Aged Victory at Sea

The Stats
Style: American Porter
ABV: 12%
Current Ratings...
- Untappd: 4.27/5
- Beer Advocate: 4.29/5
- RateBeer: 4.06/5

"We partnered with our friends at High West Distillery to create a barrel-aged version of  Ballast Point Victory at Sea, our award-winning Imperial Porter with cold-steeped coffee and vanilla. From a blend of Ballast Point Victory at Sea aged in High West’s own bourbon & rye whiskey oak casks, new layers of complexity emerge with notes of soft caramel and smoky oak over a dark chocolate and roasted almond body. High West crafts delicious and distinctive whiskeys to honor the American West, making it the perfect pairing with our signature San Diego-born porter."

Sits pitch black in the glass with dark brown edges and almost a finger of eggshell-colored head.

That aroma is bursting with vanilla and chocolate. The bourbon is a bit more nuanced than expected, but still accounted for. Lots of oak and a spicy rye character fight for attention, but I tell ya, the vanilla of the base beer and vanilla from the barrel create a marshmallow fluff overtone and it is awesome.

The taste is just as great as the aroma. Not surprising;y the vanilla is first in line and it still has that marshmallow flavor to it. I didn't get much coffee on the nose, but the taste is making up for lost time with black iced coffee bitterness with cream. After the vanilla and coffee, the bourbon really opens up and not to be outdone, the rye whiskey sings louder with just the right amount of spicy bite. Actually, when this was fresh out of the fridge, the vanilla, chocolate, and coffee popped the most, but as it warms, the barrel takes over. Elements of oak, char, and tobacco contribute equally and all in a big way and there's a warm, refined alcohol taste to keep things interesting. On top of all that, I am getting a good dose of plums, figs, and raisins to bring in a dark fruit bomb at the end of my bourbon and vanilla nuke. This stuff is awesome!

Mouthfeel is nice and thick and has a warming sensation on each sip. Aside from a minor alcohol taste, the 12% abv is very well-hidden. The body has a velvety texture and this is a joy to drink over the course of an hour.

High West Victory at Sea was one of the best barrel aged beers I've had in recent memory. A marshmallow, bourbon, and whiskey bomb all in one, this one competes with the best on the market. A truly complex and tasty beer, this one should be held in the highest regards. It might be the best, widely available, barrel aged beer out there.

Rating
9.7/10

Ballast Point Pumpkin Down

The Stats
Style: Scottish Ale, Pumpkin Ale
ABV: 5.8%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.82/5
- Untappd: 3.74/5
- RateBeer: 3.45/5

"A pumpkin ale that bucks the trend. Some might think we’re out of our gourd for making a pumpkin ale, but our Pumpkin Down is not like the others.  The caramel and toffee maltiness of our Piper Down Scottish ale is the perfect backdrop for a boatload of roasted pumpkin. Just before bottling, we add a subtle amount of spice to complement, but not overwhelm, the earthy flavor. It was a smash at the brewery, and we think you’ll agree."

Pours a mahogany red color with a finger of yellowish head.

I'm picking up sweet malty notes with a dash of subtle pumpkin spice on the aroma. A good amount of cinnamon and nutmeg seem to be pushing to the front of the line and the base scotch ale is getting lost.

The base beer comes through a bit better on the taste. The malts have a sweeter, caramel flavor, but nothing too in-your-face about it. Aside from that, there's no real trace of a Scotch Ale. More nutmeg and minimal pumpkin flavor are also to be found along with moments of squash, but they aren't too prominent. I'm getting some sort of oat or cereal flavor the more I drink, and actually, a bit of toffee does seem to come out as this continues to warm.

Mouthfeel is light-to-medium and relatively calm. No alcohol to be found and no bad aftertaste. It can feel thin at times, but isn't a watered-down beer by any means.

Pumpkin Down's Scotch Ale qualities were few and far between and the pumpkin aspect of this brew (slightly) outdid the base beer. In the Pumpkin Ale world, you will find examples with a lot more of that familiar fall flavor you are seeking out. I can't say it is a great blend of styles, but it isn't offensive to my palate either. It's an ok pumpkin beer, but you can find better.

Rating
7.2/10

The Top 10 Beers of 2016

It's time for the 3rd installment of the Top 10 Beers list and 2016 was a pretty darn good year (pardon my French).

Admittedly, I did not review as many beers as I wanted, but I guess my resolution for 2017 would be to buckle down and produce more content. In spite of that, I still have put together a top-notch Top 10 and have had fun going back and reminiscing about so many good beers.

As with the years past, I did set some parameters for compiling this list...

• The beer had to be reviewed on the blog in 2016. If I had it at a bar, a bottle share, fest, etc, then it doesn't qualify.
• No re-reviews. I typically don't re-review beers, but sometimes an occasion calls for it. So sorry, Trillium Headroom, you do not qualify for the list.
• Multiple beers from one brewery are allowed. Frankly, if the brewery makes that many good beers (in my opinion) then I'm not going to fault them for it.

 As with last year, I will do Class-B categories before counting down the 10 best of the year. Thank you for your continued support and I hope to entertain you more in 2017.

Let's Go!

Most Disappointing Beers of 2016

Like last year, the following entries weren't necessarily bad, but to me, they fell below my expectations. We won't get into a philosophical argument over whether or not I (or anyone else) am entitled to expect nothing less than a great beer, but we all have those moments where you buy a beer and say "Oh, this sounds good", but then it doesn't knock your socks off. Again, not bad, but not what I personally expected.

3. Other Half 2nd Anniversary IPA

Other Half Brewing and I don't have a solid relationship. I have found almost all of their offerings to be middle-of-the-road, but I have remained hopeful. When I landed a can of their 2nd Anniversary IPA way back in February, I was hoping this would be the one to change my mind, but it didn't.

Like most of the others I have tried, this had a strong West Coast taste that leaned heavily on spicy, onion hops. The East Coast has built a reputation for hazy, juice bombs, but Other Half doesn't follow that lead. Granted, there's nothing wrong with trying to pay homage to classic West coast IPA's, but OH doesn't seem to please either side of the country.


2. Kern River Citra

 I got serious about craft beer about five years ago and one of the most sought-after DIPA's on the planet was Kern River Citra. I may be remembering this incorrectly, but back then (2012), this was a Top 10 beer on Beer Advocate (if not that, then a Top 20). Today the rating still holds steady thanks to years of high scores, but in a world today where everyone is producing hazy juice nukes, this West Coast offering doesn't stand out.

Those classic garlic and onion notes dominate throughout. I think with this all Citra DIPA, I was expecting pure juice, but this stayed true to its roots, which caught me off guard. It wasn't a bad beer, but its reputation preceded itself.

1. Lawson's Finest Liquids Double Sunshine

Now here's one I did not like (but not enough to get on the "Worst of" list).

I had this beer for the first time years and years ago and loved it...LOVED it. It was years ahead of a lot of the current Massachusetts breweries that have defined the typical "New England IPA". When I got my latest bottle this year, I was severely let down.

Gone were the tropical fruits and instead they were replaced with an odd assortment of butterscotch and burnt popcorn to go with dirty, grassy hops. The bottle I got was only a couple of weeks old, so freshness was not the issue. I don't know if the recipe had changed or something, but this was not the beer I once loved. It cost an arm and a leg to trade for, but I think I would have given them my other appendages (including "Death Proof") to take it back.

The Worst Beers of 2016

I've said it before, but I usually don't go out of my way to purposely review "bad" beers. I buy what I want and hope for the best with each beer review. Sadly, not everything goes as planned.

3. Ballast Point Pineapple Sculpin

I love me the standard Sculpin (though I've never reviewed it). The variations out there on the market are all okay for the most part. I enjoy the Grapefruit Sculpin, and the Habanero, while not my ideal flavor, was okay. Pineapple on the other hand was a different story.

As opposed to the others, this one tasted particularly artificial. More reminiscent of a pineapple shandy with a metallic aftertaste, Pineapple Sculpin was easily the least favorite of the series.



2. Samuel Adams Nitro White Ale

Earlier this year, Sam Adams released a series of Nitro beers. I reviewed all three and found their Coffee Stout to be a decent offering, but the other two were nearly undrinkable.

The Nitro White, while bad, still had touches of familiar macro brews like Miller Lite, which still helped the beer maintain some form of drinkability. This one at least started off with subtle (VERY subtle) orange and lemon, but they still disappeared in a flash. This was basically Nitro Same Summer, and that's not something I'd dive back into.


1. Samuel Adams Nitro IPA

As opposed to it's Nitro White brother, the Nitro IPA had no redeeming qualities.

I think a forest fire had burned inside the can because the taste was heavy on roasted everything. Caramelized malts, wet tree bark, metal, and dirty dishwater were the best adjectives I could bestow upon this.

Leave it to Sam Adam to try and get in on a trend and just produce something most people don't want to drink.

Honorable Mentions

Compiling these lists is never easy and some unfortunate (but deserving) souls must be left behind. So, here are a few that JUST missed the cut for the Top 10 list.

3. Trillium Double Dry Hopped Scaled

Trillium seems to be a sure bet to produce a fantastic IPA and this was no different.

A one-two punch of El Dorado (a personal favorite) and Citra hops made for an explosion of peaches, oranges, sherbet, and even some dank hops. Trillium likes to put out DDH versions of all their IPA's and it wouldn't suck if they brewed this one more often.

2. Monkish Relax Your Mind

If you're heavy into the craft beer world, then you know Monkish has become as sought-after as Tree House beers. I was lucky enough to get a variety of Monkish beers in a trade, and they did not let me down.

Relax Your Mind was a near perfect combo of both juice and hop nuke with tropical goodness and hop flavors joining forces to combat evil. The creamy mouthfeel and familiar milkshake appearance were all gravy on this mound of mashed potatoes. I really hope I get to try more Monkish beers in 2017.


1. Bissell Brothers Swish

Much like the previously mentioned Relax Your Mind, BB Swish was another sublime combo of dankness and tropical fruits.

Swish is hard to come by in trade. As a MA resident, anything I usually have to trade is something that people from Maine buying the Swish have already had. So, I personally had to make the trip up North to wait in line and get this. It was actually a nice time talking beer with the other people and in the end I got a world class DIPA.

So, does that mean that personal touch elevated this above the Monkish beer? Maybe so, but those intangibles are what push it over the edge.

Now for the big show...

No, not that one!

As you read over the Top 10 list, you may find that they aren't necessarily ranked by overall rating. Beer A might be rated lower than Beer B, but Beer A is ranked higher on the list. When I went back and looked through all of my reviews, I had to not only take into account rating, but also whether or not the beer was memorable. Scrolling through page after page, some beers had me going "Oh, that one was good" and other outbursts of joy. So while some beers may have scored higher at the time, the lasting impression they left on me was also a huge factor. But hey, they were all great and that's why we're here.

Now here is what we've all been waiting for...The Top 10 Best Beers of 2016. Thank you for visiting the blog, the Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, and Untappd and showing your support (FYI...please like and share all of these!). Here's to a 2017 full of great beer. Cheers!

10. Small Town Not Your Father's Root Beer (10.7%)

Ok, Ok, Ok, OKAY!!!! I can hear all of you screaming at your computer screens right now. What would a good list be without a little controversy? Yes, I get it. It's not technically a beer, but you need to hear me out.

While NYFRB isn't a beer in  your typical sense and might as well be lumped in with your Smirnoff Ice and Twisted Tea, the fact is I can't deny how delicious this really is.

I've ranted about this before, but in short, everyone loved NYFRB before it hit nation-wide distribution. Only when you were able to find it at every store that sold PBR, people revolted. Well, motherf***ers, I don't care because the 10.7% bigger brother is an accomplishment. With such a high gravity beverage being able to make the alcohol smell and taste and tasting exactly like god damn root beer, this was as pleasant to drink as it was impressively made. You can lie to yourself when you say you don't like the series, but I know the truth.

9. Cigar City Hunahpu

It seems like everyone is getting on this Mexican Hot Chocolate or Mole craze. Chances are, even the casual consumer has come across a stout on their local shelves that was brewed with chili peppers, cinnamon, vanilla, and cacao. Hunahpu was one of the first and it has not gone out of style just yet.

I used to never like the style, but this vintage was delicious in all aspects. Hot chocolate, fudge, cinnamon, and a lot of chili flavor (without the heat) all blended perfectly to add a kick in the pants to an already superb imperial stout.

It's hyped for a reason. If only I could get my hands on the barrel aged variants.

8. Carton Regular Coffee

I'll be the first to admit that I am in no way, shape, or form an expert on beer. When it comes to Cream Ales, I am even more clueless as it is not a particular type of beer that I have regularly had in my fridge. When it comes to the Cream Ales, Carton Brewing seems to have dialed it in and Regular Coffee is easily the best I've had of the style.

While not only a great coffee beer, this also had unexpected notes of vanilla, cream, and chocolate to make for a complex offering from a style not known for its world class library. At an unbelievable 12%, this is dangerously drinkable and it's really just a fun beer to experience.

7. Trillium Double Dry Hopped Congress Street

Congress St is already a Galaxy hop overload and one my favorite Trillium IPA's. The DDH version is beloved by fans and tends to sell out quickly. So quickly in fact that the most recent release last month saw Trillium put a limit on 4-packs just to make sure they could spread it around and frankly, I can see the hype.

I keep saying that I prefer my IPA's to have a balance between the tropical juices and dank hops. Some of the other beers mentioned had that great combo, but DDH did it slightly better with the marriage of pure hop juice and wave after wave of peaches, lemons, apricots, and grapefruit. It truly is one of the best uses of Galaxy hops that I have ever experienced.

6. Barrel House Z Sunny & 79 (Tequila Barrel Aged)

Pilsner? Barely knew her!

Still here? Thank you.

Have I ever reviewed a pilsner before this? I'm too lazy to check, but my gut feeling is a big, fat no. BHZ is a new brewery to Massachusetts and they barrel age everything. A truly unique operation, but I don't think I could have expected to be blown away by their very first offering.

A pilsner aged in tequila barrels? Yes, it works, and does so masterfully. The crisp pilsner base followed by some awesome lime, salt, and oak from the barrel, but without any heat, made for a truly memorable beer. I actually pounded two full crowlers in one night it was so good. I paid for it the next morning at work, but it was worth it.

5. Stone Enjoy By Unfiltered 2/14/16

I think I say this every year, but I'm not a big fan of Stone IPA's. Their generic West Coast style has been a constant in their hoppy beers and I didn't think I'd see them attempt to change. Now with the "New England IPA" taking the country by storm, even Stone had to give it a shot by releasing an unfiltered version of their Enjoy By series. Again, I was not a big fan of that series and couldn't expect leaving the beer unfiltered to have that big of an effect. I was pleasantly disappointed.

Tangerines and peaches swimming in pure hop juice made for an orgasm in a glass (which I'll never try again). Some nice dank qualities and incredible drinkability for a near Triple IPA, and this was easily my favorite IPA made by Stone.

4. Alchemist Heady Topper

As I said in my review: What else needs to be said about Heady Topper?

A can full of hop juice, pine needles, grapefruit, and it's all encased in this wonderful bitter, dank quality. So many IPA's try to be either juice bombs or hop bombs, but Heady is an example of perfectly balancing out the two worlds. It's influence on the beer scene is undeniable and it still holds up to every new brewery that tries to imitate it.




3. Fremont Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star

Easily the best BA Imperial Stout I had in 2016, Fremont BA Dark Star had everything you know and love about the style, but was also ahead of the competition.

Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, oak, vanilla, marshmallow, creme brulee, and the list goes on and on. Barrel complexity plus all of the dessert-like flavors made for a massive sipper that was a pleasure to imbibe on for hours and hours.

I recently reviewed the coffee version, but the straight BA Dark Star wins out big time and does so without needing any further flavors.


2. Tree House Very Hazy

I celebrated my birthday in 2016 with a trip to Tree House Brewing. Standing outside in line in the cold, February winter, I think the world imploded into itself when the employees announced that Very Hazy would be on the menu. I guess I was just in the right place at the right time to enjoy what is considered one of the best beers on the planet.

Taking the original Haze and cranking everything up 12 notches, Very Hazy is essentially a glass of orange juice and sherbet with a perfect bitter hop finish and no resinous aftertaste. Everything from the look, aroma, and taste was almost worthy of perfection. I'm not one to buy into hype, but one sip in and I understood why it had the reputation it did.

1. Castle Island Swipe Ripe

You can call it a homer pick all you want, but to that I will kindly say "Merry Christmas to all and to all shut the f**k up".

Beer trends come and go and 2016 saw an emergence of IPA's aged on or brewed with fruit. Seriously, I don't think a week goes by where you won't see a brewery's Facebook post that says something along the lines of: "Brewed with Galaxy, Citra (etc)...and a heapin' shitload of peaches, mangoes, apricots, etc etc etc" Instead of letting the hops do their work, we are seeing so many IPA's infused with tropical or stone fruits. A lot of the time the beer ends up more of a shandy than an IPA, but holy crap, when a beer comes along that uses the fruit to enhance rather than overpower, then you have found a gem. Swipe Ripe did it the best in 2016, and may stand alone for the foreseeable future.

One of my biggest factors in a great beer is: Would I buy it again? In this case, I bought my 4-pack, destroyed it, and went back to the brewery on three different occasions to get more. The sheer amount of apricots in this can was ludicrous, but not to be outdone, the overload of juicy and dank hops just added to the complexity. Swipe Ripe was part of Castle Island's rotating Imperial IPA series which produced so many complex DIPA's, but swipe Ripe was the clear winner for me not just for Castle Island beers, but for the best beer of 2016.

See you next time. Thank you for your support.

Memory Lane

2014 Top 10
2015 Top 10

Ballast Point Barmy

The Stats
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 12%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.7/5
- RateBeer: 3.46/5

"Our Barmy is a strong golden ale that lives up to its name…in a way. Some know “barmy” as slang for crazy or wacky. But historically it’s referred to the froth coming from fermenting fruit or beer, a definition that suits this brew made with apricots and orange blossom honey. With a tart fruitiness and a sweet, but not too sugary, finish, the only thing crazy about this Barmy is the amount of flavor."

Pours a dark, golden orange with a transparent body and a finger of white head.

I must say that the aroma is incredibly juicy and reminds me of a Welch's juice box. That apricot is really dominating everything along with some banana and the small alcohol presence is making this more of an apricot shandy.

As expected from the aroma, the apricot is strong with this one. Not sure if I would dare say it is genuine apricots they are using, but the flavoring is doing its job without being too artificial. If you've had Ballast Point's Grapefruit or Pineapple variants, then the heavy dependence on the fruit flavoring will be comparable. Also as expected, this does lean heavily on the booze, but it does so without leaving an undrinkable alcohol sting. Aside from the obvious apricots, there's some cinnamon and banana, but not a lot of honey flavor aside form an overall sugary sweetness. On the second half there's a so-so apple juice quality and acidic citrus. It's not the same flavor you get from fruity hops and it had me doing a double-take with each sip.

Mouthfeel is gearing more towards the syrupy side, but its not so thick that it impedes flow from one end to the other. Make no mistake, this is a big motherfu**er of a beer at 12% and a sipper by all counts, but as I said before, there is no real alcohol presence and the feel is actually relatively calm.

Ballast Point's more experimental brews are polarizing to say the least, but Blarmy is actually pretty good. Granted, I don't want them to start putting this in in 6-pack cans and have people slugging this down at family BBQ's, but I think it can be enjoyed one 12oz bottle at a time over the course of an hour or so. If you enjoy the shandy-like taste of Ballast Point's IPA's, but with a  big, boozy body, then this is your place to be.

Rating
7.710

Ballast Point Pineapple Sculpin

The Stats
Style: American IPA
ABV: 7.0%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.94/5
- RateBeer: 3.73/5

"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? The combination of fruity flavors and hop intensity definitely packs a punch."

Today we are checking off another variation on Ballast Point's Sculpin IPA. I have previously reviewed the Grapefruit and Habanero versions, but today we get tropical with Pineapple Sculpin. I remember being skeptical going into the Grapefruit version fearing it would just be a fruit drink with a tiny umbrella disguised as a beer, but that turned out to be delicious. Hopefully Pineapple enhances more than overpowers.

Pours a slightly hazy, but mostly see-through brilliant orange with two fingers of bright white head.

I can smell this even when holding it as far away from me as possible. The aroma is similar to opening a fresh can of Dole pineapple chunks. There is still some moderate earthy bitterness hidden deep back there, but this is really just a fruit cup in a 12oz bottle.

The taste is unquestionably pineapple dependent. Unfortunately I must report that this isn't a fresh glass of fruit juice. Instead it is like the aforementioned can of pineapple chunks, but more along the lines of drinking the leftover juice straight from the can. This would explain the slight metallic taste I am picking up and yes, that is as pleasant as it sounds. That aside, the pineapple is so dominating and unnatural it makes this feel like pineapple shandy rather than a solid IPA. If I concentrate hard enough, a small amount of grassy hops come through on the transition with even a little dank garlic/onion flavor. The finish has some more of that metallic taste which makes swallowing a challenge (...if I had a nickel...).

On the positive side, the body is just as solid and full as regular Sculpin and is right where it should be for a 7.0% IPA. No alcohol to be found, but as I said just a moment ago, finishing each sip can become an uphill battle.

Ranking Pineapple Sculpin with the other two version I have reviewed would undoubtedly put this at the bottom spot. This succeeds as a fruity beer, but when you think of fruit-forward beers, you think "easy-drinking" and "refreshing" which would pair well with a hot Summer's day. This is not really the case here as the pineapple didn't mesh well with the standard Sculpin and had some off-flavors which made drinkability tilt towards the bottom end of the spectrum. Stick with regular Sculpin, but if you want the better fruit version, go to Grapefruit as that acidity worked well with the hop bitterness.

Rating
6.7/10

Ballast Point Calm Before the Storm

The Stats
Style: Cream Ale
ABV: 5.5%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.85/5
- RateBeer: 3.48/5

The Cream Ale is an area I have little-to-no experience in and I can't really list  any great example off the top of my head. However, Ballast Point has made a name for brewing a broad range of styles and actually delivering on them too. Very slowly, the idea of putting stout-like qualities into golden-colored beer styles has come alive lately, but few breweries can make an elite example. Hopefully BP can give us something to remember.

Pours a hazy orange with noticeable sediment floating around. I got three fingers of a fluffy white head that didn't last long.

This is the kind of beer that messes with your head because the aroma doesn't match the appearance at all. It smells dessert-like with a blast of vanilla, but also huge coffee as well and even a small bit of dark chocolate. It's not dark roast coffee, but rather coffee with cream and sugar. Very inviting.

The taste comes up a little short. The coffee is here, but nowhere near as big as it was on the aroma as only coffee bitterness seems to be the only indication it was actually here. The same can be said for the vanilla as some of the vanilla cream taste is barely noticeable and is lacking any dessert-like pop of sweetness. In addition, I am getting qualities associated more with adjunct lagers like Bud, Miller, and Coors with a corn or potato taste, pale malt, and wet grain. The finish has more of the iced coffee experience, but it's more like sucking on an ice cube that had been sitting in your cup of iced coffee.

Mouthfeel is relatively tame. Luckily the adjunct lager notes and dark coffee don't linger and spoil the experience. It can be a little watered down at moments, but it's tolerable.

Is this the new trend in the beer world, or was Calm Before the Storm just a fun experiment that won't catch on? I can't render a verdict just yet as the sample size is still small and I've had blonde-looking beers with coffee that have been really good. In this particular case, the aroma was promising, but it fell flat on the taste. It's not a terrible offering, but considering the plethora of coffee and/or vanilla beers out in the market (including a great one from Ballast Point), this one doesn't have the "wow factor" to make you return for another one.

Rating
7.3/10

Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin

The Stats
Style: American IPA
ABV: 7.00%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.77/5
- RateBeer: 3.42/5

Ballast Point Sculpin is one of the standard IPA's in the craft beer world. It's arguably  the best, year-round, widely distributed IPA on the market. I've previously reviewed Grapefruit Sculpin (which I loved), but now we are headed in a completely different direction today as we will now try Sculpin made with habanero peppers.

Pours a hazy orange with a finger of pure, white head.

Surprisingly the aroma is quite bland. I pick up just faint hints of the classic Sculpin IPA with subtle grapefruit peel and some dank hops. The habanero is coming through more like pepper skin, but also subdued.

I can't say the same for the taste as a kick of spicy habanero leads things off, but luckily it isn't setting my mouth on fire. After the initial "burn" of the heat, the spice parts to let some ripe pineapple, mango, and the bitter hops show their stuff. The burn from the pepper comes back on the finish as the back of my throat sizzles with each sip. For the most part I can pick out each individual flavor, and their all very fresh and tasty, but I can't help but feel that they don't all work together as a unit. Maybe some more earthy/herbal hops would have paired better with the peppers instead of the tropical notes.

Mouthfeel is perfectly medium with good carbonation. The heat from the peppers tend to linger for a few minutes after each sip. Spicy food veterans will find no issue with this, but those with less experience may want to keep a glass of water handy.

Habanero Sculpin is an interesting addition to the Sculpin family. The idea of spicy peppers and hops together seems to be a good matching and in terms of just those two ingredients, this works nicely. It's when you add in all of the tropical fruits of the base beer that it can become somewhat of a traffic jam of flavor. I think a full six-pack to myself may be a bit much, so I'm glad I stuck with the one lone bottle. If you can take the heat, give it a shot.

Rating
7.5/10

Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin

The Stats
Style: American IPA
ABV: 7.00%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.33/5
- RateBeer: 3.94/5

Sculpin is one of my all-time favorite IPA's. I first got word that they were distributing their variations a few months back and was getting to the point where I was going to have to make a trade for some. Luckily, my local store got a (very) small supply, so I got my two bottle allotment and couldn't wait to crack one open.

Pours a clear, glowing orange and it generated three fingers of a white, foamy head.

Bitter, earthy hops on the nose, but I did not expect THIS much grapefruit. Did they just hand-squeeze whole grapefruits into each batch? I kid, but seriously, you might confuse this for grapefruit juice in a blind test.

The taste is everything I love about Sculpin and more. Bitter hops on the initial sip give way to some mango and orange with grassy hop bitterness. After all that, the acidic grapefruit hits the middle of your tongue with a thud and stays through to the finish. Interestingly, while the fruit flavor is there on the end, this is actually more bitter on the finish than from what I remember from the standard Sculpin. Bitter hops kind of sandwich your tongue on the start and finish leaving the middle for grapefruit. Now that's a sandwich I'd take to lunch everyday.

This has a medium body with a small amount of carbonation bubbles. With it's bitter start and finish, it isn't unpleasant and has no lingering hop flavor, but the acidic grapefruit clings to your tongue (in a good way). It's just a smooth IPA and you could easily kill a six-pack of this thing in no time.

Grapefruit Sculpin takes all the delicious qualities of regular Sculpin and adds a blast of bitter, acidic fruit juice. There have been other attempts in recent memory for grapefruit IPA's, but Ballast Point's Sculpin variation did it right with it's herbal, grassy hops and tart citrus that is bitter and refreshing at the same time. If it was available as much as standard Sculpin, then it would be in my fridge year-round.

Rating
9.3/10

Ballast Point Victory at Sea

The Stats
Style: American Porter
ABV: 10.00%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.39/5
- RateBeer: 4.04/5

Infused with whole vanilla beans and San Diego's own Cafe Calabria coffee, Victory at Sea is a big, ballsy imperial porter clocking in at 10.00%. It has all the makings of a fine dessert beer, but we won't know until we dive in.

Pours pitch black like a stout with some dark brown on the edges. Gave off two fingers of a dark khaki, light brown head.

Huge roasted coffee to lead things off on the aroma. It's like a fresh cup of joe in the morning. The vanilla beans offer a nice compliment to the coffee and subtle chocolate flavors. Very reminiscent of a bowl of coffee ice cream. Almost a distant oak and wood smell to it too.

There's almost a mocha, espresso taste to this beer. I know it isn't brewed with chocolate, but I get that in the taste with the coffee. It's also incredibly roasty and the vanilla beans are there on the end for one final kick of a marshmallow taste. Believe it or not, I'm picking up just the slightest red wine/red grape taste too.

As an imperial porter, this coats your mouth and tongue like an imperial stout while also being light and fluffy - pretty cool how it got the best of both worlds. With such a high abv, there is a small warming sensation, but other than that, there is no alcohol smell or taste.

In terms of dessert beers, this is up there with the best of the chocolate/coffee/vanilla stouts and porters. It has a ton of flavor and it's easy to drink for 10.00%. With these cold moths on the horizon, this is one to enjoy on a cool autumn evening after a hearty meal.

Rating
9.1/10