This is another that Hilgar sent me. It is the Habanero Sculpin from Ballast point out of San Diego California. If Portland is beer Mecca then San Diego is beer Jerusalem. It is a pepper IPA with the pepper being the venerable Habanero and the IPA being their flagship Sculpin. I'm going to say right off the bat that I'm not a fan of pepper beers. I find them unpleasant, unsessionable, and something made more for cooking than for drinking it outright. That being said, I'm going to try to be as objective as possible and avoid being negative. I'm surprised I haven't done Ballast point before, so here is a little run down about the brewery. Our story starts in 1992, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and Disco was king. A man by the name of Jack White (not the lead member of the White Stripes, I'm sad to say) started a home brewing supply store in San Diego after he and other beer hobbyists in the area found it difficult to find quality ingredients for their craft. A few years went by and Jack started a brewing operation in the back room of his business with employee Yuseff Cherney, and in 1996 that became Ballast Point Brewing. In 2004 they moved the operation to Scripps Ranch for the sake of expansion. By 2013 they had maxed out the capabilities of the Scripps Ranch location and started a second brewery in Miamar in 2014.
I received this beer in a standard 12oz long neck bottle with crimpcap. The cap and neck label feature the brewery's famous sextant seal. The main label art features a painting of a sculpin (which is a whole family of fish, specifically it's a scorpionfish depicted) along with the title "Ballast Point Brewing Company" "Habanero Sculpin india pale ale with habanero peppers added" and in small print the disclaimer "heat may vary". 7% ABV. I will be using my session glass for this one.
Nose from the bottle is a resin hoppyness with a little bit of spice. Pours golden orange, does not maintain a head for more than a few seconds. Nose from the glass is the same as the bottle, but with a floral citrus quality to it. On first sip, WOW! You get a flash of bitter hop and then you get punched in the face by pepper juice, and it just keeps burning until the end when the hops wave at you and snicker at your pain. As you drink it the hops come out more, but the pepper is ever present and keeps you from tasting any nuance. I kind of wish they had gone with Jalapeno or some other more mild pepper, this is so overpowering you can't even enjoy the other flavors Sculpin boasts. It has a strange mix of interesting and boring all at the same time. Definitely something you want to sip.
Listening to the Black Keys, haven't listened to them in a while. I can't believe they haven't released anything since 2014, but then I suppose they have been releasing albums since 2001 so a couple of years to just tour is understandable. Man, 2001. They have been releasing full studio albums since I was 13 years old. I can't even think of something I've been doing consistently for that long. I suppose collect coins, but I don't really actively do that so much any more. Speaking of not doing something anymore, this beer is giving me heartburn. I hate to say it, but the sink is going to have to drink this one.
Final thoughts. I gave it a fair shot and it just confirmed why I don't like pepper beers. I'm sure they are good for cooking, maybe making chicken with, but I wouldn't drink them outright.
https://www.ballastpoint.com/how-it-began/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballast_Point_Brewing_Company
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Monday, July 10, 2017
The beers of Iwakuni: Cigar City Brewing's White Oak Jai Alai India Pale Ale
Hilgar just sent me this beer. It is the Jai Alai white oak aged India Pale Ale by Cigar City Brewing out of Tampa Florida. Joey Redner started the brewery in 2007 and with brewmaster Wayne Wambles created their first beer, Maduro brown ale, in 2008. The next year they created the Jai Alai IPA, named for the curious South American sport. They run both a 15 bbl and 30 bbl system and have an annual production of 60,000 bbl of beer of which Jai Ali is about 55%. The brewery hosts a festival in March of each year called Hunahpu's day, named for the Mayan god of beer, which has a turnout of 5000+ people. There is a stout brewed exclusively for the event and cannot be attained elsewhere (at least, not directly). The White Oak Jai Alai IPA being reviewed here is a special brew derived from their flagship beer that has been aged in white oak spirals in order to impart "vanilla, coconut, and a touch of dill" to the citrusy IPA, or so their website says.
I received this beer in a standard 12oz can. It is decorated in a white oak bark pattern all around and features a hop flower being thrown by a blurry Jai Alai player. On the front, under the Cigar City Brewing seal it says "Jai Alai aged on White Oak India Pale Ale" in a 1970's disco font, referring to the short time Jai Alai saw serious popularity in the United States. The epitaph on the reverse says "This is an American Oak aged version of Jai Alai. The oak adds smoothing notes of vanilla and slight hints of dill to the aroma and flavor profile. The finish is elegantly dry due to the light tannin notes from oak aging and though still loaded with hop flavor, hop bitterness is more restrained". 7.5% ABV. I'll be having this in my American session glass. Let's crack this cold one open and get a whiff of it!
Nose from the can has a mango orange juice scent, it's resiny as well. Nose from the glass is similar, but with vanilla in it as well. Color is a dark orange, I'd give it a 14 on the SRM, and has a fluffy white head. There is a good bit of life within the glass, both small and big bubble agitation. On first sip, It is blood orange and pine resin that subsides to grapefruit and has a dry finish. There is an extra something in there that I cannot put my finger on. It is a slight underlying wood characteristic that I know for a fact is oak, but I struggle to call it that. The hops are certainly mellow, there is maybe some vanilla at the start and in the finish, but not in the aftertaste. The aftertaste is grapefruit and pine resin. It's developed a strawberry flavor in the middle, like an artificial strawberry you would find in a HI-CHEW.
Listen to Sonic's Rendezvous band. I'm doing Terminal Readiness Seminar this week, just getting ready to be out of the Corps and back into civilian life. Hopefully I will be able to cobble together a resume so I can get a floater job on the outside while I prepare to start a business. From what I hear the job market is pretty good back home if you are really willing to work. I'm looking to get an RV to live in for a little bit while I transition and then take that on my Pan-American Beer Tour!
I've been scoping this one out for about two weeks, It's a 1985 Winnebago chieftain and it's perfect! I figure it's 454 chevy big block is something I can keep running as I traverse the United States, sampling America's beers! The interior is pretty good as well, certainly serviceable for my needs. And at $3000 it's better than paying several months rent.
Final thoughts. It's a pretty good beer. Very sessionable and well brewed. If you see one, pick it up. I don't think you will we dissapointed. I give this beer my blurry seal of approval.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigar_City_Brewing
https://cigarcitybrewing.com/
I received this beer in a standard 12oz can. It is decorated in a white oak bark pattern all around and features a hop flower being thrown by a blurry Jai Alai player. On the front, under the Cigar City Brewing seal it says "Jai Alai aged on White Oak India Pale Ale" in a 1970's disco font, referring to the short time Jai Alai saw serious popularity in the United States. The epitaph on the reverse says "This is an American Oak aged version of Jai Alai. The oak adds smoothing notes of vanilla and slight hints of dill to the aroma and flavor profile. The finish is elegantly dry due to the light tannin notes from oak aging and though still loaded with hop flavor, hop bitterness is more restrained". 7.5% ABV. I'll be having this in my American session glass. Let's crack this cold one open and get a whiff of it!
Nose from the can has a mango orange juice scent, it's resiny as well. Nose from the glass is similar, but with vanilla in it as well. Color is a dark orange, I'd give it a 14 on the SRM, and has a fluffy white head. There is a good bit of life within the glass, both small and big bubble agitation. On first sip, It is blood orange and pine resin that subsides to grapefruit and has a dry finish. There is an extra something in there that I cannot put my finger on. It is a slight underlying wood characteristic that I know for a fact is oak, but I struggle to call it that. The hops are certainly mellow, there is maybe some vanilla at the start and in the finish, but not in the aftertaste. The aftertaste is grapefruit and pine resin. It's developed a strawberry flavor in the middle, like an artificial strawberry you would find in a HI-CHEW.
Listen to Sonic's Rendezvous band. I'm doing Terminal Readiness Seminar this week, just getting ready to be out of the Corps and back into civilian life. Hopefully I will be able to cobble together a resume so I can get a floater job on the outside while I prepare to start a business. From what I hear the job market is pretty good back home if you are really willing to work. I'm looking to get an RV to live in for a little bit while I transition and then take that on my Pan-American Beer Tour!
I've been scoping this one out for about two weeks, It's a 1985 Winnebago chieftain and it's perfect! I figure it's 454 chevy big block is something I can keep running as I traverse the United States, sampling America's beers! The interior is pretty good as well, certainly serviceable for my needs. And at $3000 it's better than paying several months rent.
Final thoughts. It's a pretty good beer. Very sessionable and well brewed. If you see one, pick it up. I don't think you will we dissapointed. I give this beer my blurry seal of approval.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigar_City_Brewing
https://cigarcitybrewing.com/
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