Sculpin

Sculpin
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits
American IPA
7% ABV
70 IBUs

22 oz. bomber with no freshness date poured into a New Belgium globe. Thanks Dan!

Appearance 5/5

Golden-tangerine with the appropriate haze of a dry hopped IPA, Sculpin poured with a big off white head that took its time to settle and left kickass lacing. Signature American IPA looks. Perfect.

Aroma 4/5

Lots of fruity hops in the aroma: most notably apricot and then some mango. Just a hint of the herbal character that comes with dry hopping. Very good, but not up there in my opinion.

Taste 3/5

Smoothly bitter but hugely lacking flavor, and rather one dimensional. Is it not fresh? No one will know because Ballast Point doesn't date the bottles. Leaves a bitter aftertaste even though it's not all that bitter that brings us to the next item, mouthfeel.

Mouthfeel 2.5/5

Even though it says right on the bottle that this is a light bodied ale, I don't deem that a good excuse for an almost entirely missing malt backbone. Thin, and very thin when warm. Finishes dry but what's the point? I firmly believe that there should be a stronger body and more malts in a 7% ABV beer.

Overall 2/5

Sculpin was underwhelming, big time. There was no malt backbone whatsoever and the hop flavor was entirely missing in the taste in spite of the great aroma. Scupin is not the most bitter IPA but that's not my beef -- fresh Two Hearted is a great example of a fruity IPA that's not a bitterness bomb, and yet is amazing.