Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits - "Habanero Sculpin" IPA

I actually came across this beer about a month ago, and passed on it. When I went back to get it later, it was all sold out! But luckily, I was recently in Massachusetts for a conference, and came across it in the East Hartford, CT super beer mart, where I've bought a few things that have appeared on this blog before. This trip I also picked up a few other special bombers, including an amazing couple of Stone offerings I've never seen before. Those Stone beers will sit in my cellar until I'm back in Connecticut in August. But on to today's beer!

It's from San Diego, CA-based Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits. I've been a fan of Ballast Point for some time now; their "Big Eye" IPA is good and cheap, as is their "Wahoo" which I had at Brouwer's in Seattle last year. I also saw their "Peppermint Victory at Sea" in East Hartford, which I wanted to get but passed this time. They also have tons more awesome offerings that I haven't seen, including their "Indra Kunindra," a stout made with Madras curry, coconut, cumin, cayenne, and lime. Oh man! I'd love to get in on that.

Today's beer is the habanero entry in their "Sculpin" series of ales, which includes a pineapple variant, and an evidently-popular grapefruit version. I admit to you fully that I am not super interested in the grapefruit one (or grapefruit anything) but the habanero is definitely a strong attractor!

It's got a nice dark yellow color, with some cloudy particles inside and lots of little bubbles rising to the top. It generates a thin white head that clings to the side of the glass nicely.

Wow, nice. It starts strong, presenting sharp pepper flavors almost immediately, and follows up with the hop flavor, quickly developing into a brassy taste that pairs well with the lingering habanero flavors. It tastes fresh and strong, and as it warms up, I'm starting to enjoying the hoppy flavors even more, and they pair nicely with the great lingering heat that stays on the tongue long after the beer is swallowed.

In the end, it's clean, very hot, and tangy with some great pepper flavors that last for a long time. It's also labelled as a "small-batch pepper beer" and that the heat "may vary." That's kinda cool; having a bit of variety in the final outcome shows that each batch is crafted based on actual fresh ingredients, with some natural variance therein. It's also lighter than many other pepper beers I've tried, so that was a cool plus as well. Most pepper beers I've had are stouts / porters, so having something a bit more ale-like was great. In the end, this was awesome - I highly recommend it if you're a pepper fan.