Name – Sculpin IPA
Country – United States
Type – American IPA

A little over a week ago I did my first video review for Ballast Point’s Big Eye IPA.  And during I said that a review would be coming soon the IPA brother in the Ballast Point household, Sculpin.  Being a man that tries to keep his promises I bring it here to you today.

This beer is constantly mentioned by many beer geeks as one of the best single IPAs int he world.  Mighty heft claim huh?  Well let’s put it to the ultimate test, MikeLovesBeer.com.

I poured the beer into my Dogfish Head snifter and it is a pale orangish to gold color.  A nice white head is on top of the brew and leaves a nice lacing on the glass as it subsides.

The nose packed full of citrus hops.  There are some pine notes I can pick up but to me it’s mostly citrus.

The taste is really no different from the smell with more big, bold citrus hops.  There is also an earthy quality in there as well.  It is pretty bitter for a single IPA.  It is the type you get from very hoppy DIPAs.  Not much in the way of malt backing.

It is really hard to believe this beer is classified as a single IPA.  Almost everything about it’s smell and taste screams double.  But at 7% ABV I know a few single IPAs that are higher in alcohol than this one.

Now typically when it comes to big IPAs or DIPAs I like balance in the hops and malts.  But there are the outrageous few that I enjoy the enamel ripping taste of the hops like Stone Ruination IPA and Avery Maharaja.

This one is a hop head’s dream.  I can see where a lot of people call it one of the best IPAs out there as it is just so much hoppier than most of it’s style.  For those in South Florida Ballast Point is not down in our area yet.  But they are available in Central Florida.  So if you take a trip you will be able to get it.

Grade – A