May 13, 2016

Ballast Point Pineapple Sculpin IPA

Unlike the Watermelon Dorado, Ballast Point have done an excellent job pairing their Sculpin IPA with various fruit and fiery chilis. First, grapefruit complimented the naturally bitter brew with just the right amount of fruity and biting influence. And now we see/taste pineapple added to accentuate the tropical influence that the beer already provided to drinkers.

Sculpin IPA is already one of my favorite beers from the company. As I stated in the review of the grapefruit infused variety, this beer doesn’t really need any help in improving its overall presentation and drinking experience. Thankfully, the inclusion of pineapple within its golden depths doesn’t do too much to take away from an already solid beer. Further tropical fruitiness emerges to accompany pine resin, grapefruit and a good amount of hop bitterness.

While this version of Sculpin was tasty, I still prefer the original. Let the traits of the hops speak for themselves. We don’t need any other ingredient to bolster flavors that already have the possibility of showing through. Regardless of my fatigue for fruit juice infused IPAs, Pineapple Sculpin IPA is still a darn good beer that I would gladly crack open any hot afternoon this coming Summer.