Ballast Point Pineapple Sculpin

Beer Name: Pineapple Sculpin
Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Co. (San Diego, CA)
ABV: 7.0%
How sold: Six-packs of 12 oz. bottles; on draft
Where bought: Saraveza (Portland, OR)
Price: $2.55 for 12 oz. single

Ballast Point Date Stamp: SC 1098P 16027 06:26 (1098th batch of Pineapple Sculpin, made on the 26th day of 2016)
Date Purchased: February 4, 2016
Date Opened/Drank: February 5, 2016
IBUs: 70
When brewed? Year round beer. First released in February 2016.

Where distributed: Ballast Point distributes to several states. They also ship online within California.

Food Pairings: Ballast Point suggests Mango Sticky Rice, Buttermilk Crumb Cake, and Bay Blue Cheese as possible pairings.

What's on the Website: "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." Read more here!

REVIEW:

Appearance (5%): Poured clear golden-orange into a pint glass. Some off-white head, with some lacing left on the glass. 4.25/5

Smell (25%): Sweet and slightly malty with noticeable pineapple juice and other tropical notes. 4.25/5

Taste (40%): Hoppy pineapple blast upfront with additional pineapple aftertaste. Refreshing and tropical. Much like its flagship Sculpin beer, the slightest hint of alcohol remains. Slightly bitter aftertaste. Overall, very solid. 4/5

Mouthfeel (10%): Medium-bodied, still refreshing thanks to the pineapple. Some carbonation, and bitterness lingers on the tongue. 4/5

Overall (20%): A solid IPA. I had been wanting to sample this since the news release broke right at the beginning of 2016. Pineapple works well with the Sculpin recipe, but perhaps I'm simply biased towards Grapefruit Sculpin. Ballast Point adds another tasty IPA variation to its lineup here. I also must give a nod to Ballast Point for getting this beer out to us fairly quickly. It was bottled on January 26 and I'm enjoying this about 10 days later. Now that's fresh. 4/5

Final Weighted Rating: 4.075/5