Ballast Point Abandon Ship

While at Al’s of Hampden, I ordered a glass of Ballast Point Abandon Ship, a smoked lager. The beer pours a dark amber color with a thin frothy white colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, sweet smoke, malts, and toffee. The taste is dry and smoky with an overall great toast flavor. Caramel and toffee and there just to balance, but the smoke takes precedence. The alcohol content is 6.1% ABV. I liked the smoke notes in this beer, as they weren’t too overpowering or overbearing. I’ve had better smoked beers, but I would definitely come back to this one.

Ballast Point Tongue Buckler

My buddy Adam brought over a bottle of Ballast Point Tongue Buckler to share on a brew day. I previously tasted this beer on cask and dry-hopped at Al’s of Hampden, but this was a great opportunity to try the beer as intended. The beer pours a red-amber color with a frothy eggshell colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, lemon, and tangerine. The taste is bitter and dry with a caramel and toasted malt base. Bitter tangerine, orange, and grapefruit provide a citrus freshness and the finish has pepper, pine, and hop oils. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. I enjoyed this beer very much on the second go-around, as it had a great hop focus with a solid backbone that can carry the taste the entire way throughout the experience.

Ballast Point Tongue Buckler Summit Hop Cask

On a day in which Al’s of Hampden tapped a ridiculous amount of beer including KBS, I ordered a glass of Ballast Point Tongue Buckler. This was served on cask and was dry hopped with Summit hops. The beer pours a dark amber color with a frothy beige head. The aroma consists of lemon, caramel, pine, and spruce. Overall, a faint aroma, but I credit that with the cask serving. The taste is really dry with lots of spruce and pine on the front end. There are hints of caramel in the background before a warming finish with some pepper and oak finish. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. This was a really dry and well-hopped beer that focused the Summit hop nicely. I think the cask serving helped round out the edges of the beer and made it that much more drinkable.

Ballast Point Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter

I picked up a bottle of Ballast Point Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head that leaves plenty of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of coffee, espresso, caramel, vanilla, dark chocolate, and toasted malts. The taste is full of dark and bitter chocolate with lots of toasted malts. Once the bold chocolate flavor subsides a bit, coffee takes over the mouth with a touch of vanilla sweetness. The finish is dry and roasted that lingers for a while with a bitterness and a bit of carbonation bite on the back of the throat. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. The dark chocolate bitterness and the coffee bitterness really played nicely together, bound by the vanilla sweetness. It definitely ranks up there with the better coffee infused beers.

Stone-Ballast Point-Kelsey McNair San Diego County Session Ale

I picked up a bottle of Stone-Ballast Point-Kelsey McNair collaboration Sand Diego County Session Ale from HoneyGo Wines outside of Baltimore. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of sweet orange citrus with lemon, tangerine, and fresh earthy hops. The taste is bitter with hops built on top of a light caramel flavor. There are lots of pine, lemon, and orange flavored hops that come through on this beer. The alcohol content is 4.2% ABV. This beer is very bitter but also very enjoyable with plenty of citrus zest right in your face. And since it is sessionable, drinking several of these in one sitting is not an issue.

Ballast Point Sculpin India Pale Ale

I ordered a bottle of Ballast Point Sculpin India Pale Ale from McGrath's in Harrisburg. The beer pours a dark straw yellow color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma consists of lemon and grapefruit with a hint of orange and pepper. The taste is surprisingly toasted caramel with a good helping of bitter grapefruit. The beer finishes with a lemon and pepper bite. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I thought that the Scuplin India Pale Ale was extremely delicious and the toasted caramel flavor really came through well. There also was not any disappointment in the hop flavors with grapefruit and lemon.

Ballast Point Big Eye IPA

McGrath's in Harrisburg recently tapped a keg of Ballast Point Big Eye IPA, so I decided to order a glass. The beer pours an amber color with a lofty foamy white head. The aroma contains floral smells and pine. The taste is lemon and orange citrus with a pepper hop finish. There is also a hint of tangerine in there. The beer is really clean and fresh and also has a light caramel undertone. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I thought that this was an excellent IPA without anything being overdone. The hops weren't overpowering, but were also plentiful.

Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale

While in California, I picked up a six-pack of Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale. The beer has a light amber color with a lofty foamy head. The smell is pretty faint but consists of earthy hops. The taste is malty on the front end and has a light lemon accent on the finish. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. The Amber Ale was a pretty decent beer and it has won a gold medal in the past. I think that is is a good representation of what an amber ale should be and with the alcohol content, it makes it a great session beer.