Ölbeat 075: Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company 
Country: United States
Style: India Pale Ale
Abv: 7 %
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What about the beer?
Colour is clear golden orange with a finger-thick natural white head. Aroma has fresh lemon, grass and a sweet slice of orange. Taste gets a fresh hoppy start that grows quickly to sharp tongue-biting bitterness. Fresh and bitter-sour grapefruit steals the show with a lemon twist. Towards the end hops bite back with piny dryness. Aftertaste has dry pine and bitter grapefruit.

Really pure and fresh tasting India Pale Ale. Heavy ride of citrus flavour dry-hops from start to end. Cutting the crap short: this is what a well-done West Coast IPA should taste like. Period.

Ölbeat

There are many rock classics that have the label "Made for California". My ear just happened to pick this one. Better now than later:

The Eagles: Hotel California (YouTube)

From the 1976 album Hotel California, the song was written by Don Felder, Don Henley and Glenn Frey.

Ölbeat 070: Ballast Point Victory At Sea

Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company
Country: United States
Style: Imperial Porter
Abv: 10 % 
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What about the beer?

Colour is dark brown to black with a small diminishing tan head. Aroma has quality black coffee, milk chocolate, brown sugar and some alcohol. Taste begins with a roasty hoppy coffeeish bite. Rich coffee, espresso and dark bitter chocolate take over with the flavours growing and expanding till the end. Some berries, raisins and vanilla are tasted, too. Aftertaste has bitter cocoa and some alcohol.

There are surprisingly many delicious layers of flavours in the taste: coffee with and without sugar turning to espresso and back. Aroma gives sweet milk chocolate but the taste is more like bitter dark cocoa powder. Just amazing Imperial Porter.

Ölbeat

Delicious and complex dark brew needs a complex and legendary song with the same shade. The greatness is shared, the theme isn't: although the beer is almost black it's affection was quite opposite to the song. I may later regret for reserving this track but then again it's not forbidden to link a great song to more than one beer, it?

The Rolling Stones: Paint It Black (YouTube)

From the 1966 album Aftermath (US version), the song was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.