The Ballast Point Pineapple Sculpin is one of the many new releases from the San Diego based brewery.  Since being bought by Constellation Brands in November of last year, Ballast Point has released several new brews.  The Peppermint Victory at Sea hit shelves in December while the Ginger Big Eye, Mango Even Keel, Pineapple Sculpin and Watermelon El Dorado were released in February.  Calling these “new releases” may not be exactly correct.  Most of these beers have been available on tap in the past.  So let’s say they are being bottled and widely distributed for the first time.

Ballast-point-new-releases
Mango Even Keel Session Ale review coming soon…

The topic of craft breweries (like Ballast Point) being bought out by the “big guy” (like Constellation Brands) has been a hot topic over the last year or so.  Lots of craft names like New Belgium, Firestone Walker, Founders, Elysian have been part of the merger madness over the last few years. Brewbound has a list (thought slightly dated) to give you an idea.  This is an interesting read from Fortune about Craft Beer’s Big Delemma.

I can’t begrudge someone for “selling out.”  I’d love to sell out.  If you wanna buy Mixed and Mashed, shoot me an email.  My big concern is the beer.  Ballast Point was sold in November for $1 Billion.  That’s great, but is the beer still gonna be good?  As long as the quality stays the same, then I am all for it.  And the sale seems to be leading to fun new joints like the Pineapple Sculpin.

Please excuse me as I step down from my soapbox.

OK. Let’s get into the Pineapple Sculpin!

Ballast-point-pineapple-sculpin
The Pineapple Sculpin will be available in cans later this year…

Ballast Point Pineapple Sculpin

Style: IPA with Pineapple

ABV: 7%

IBU: 70

Hops: ?

Malt: ?

Availability: Year-Round – 12 0z bottles and Draft (Cans coming soon)

MSRP: $17.49 – Six Pack 12 oz bottle (13.99 at Bevmo)

Brewer: Ballast Point Brewing – San Diego, CA

Beers consumed for review: Four – 12 oz bottles

Ballast-point-pineapple-sculpin-pour
The Pineapple Sculpin featured a thin white head and strong lacing…

Nose:  Yeah, it smells like pineapple.  Hoppy and sweet pineapple aromas hit the nose first.  There were some citrus and mild pine notes in there as well.  Overall, the nose is dominated by pineapple and hops.

Appearance:  The Ballast Point Pineapple Sculpin was crystal clear and deep gold in color (SRM 6 if you will).  It poured clean with a thin, foamy white head with strong lacing.

Flavor:  There was a lot of tropical going on.  Sweet pineapple notes hit the tongue first.  They were followed by a nice hoppy bitterness which balanced out the sweet nicely.   I couldn’t help but taste the essence of piña colada which imparted some white rum booziness on the finish.  I’ll admit that this may be total placebo, so leave a comment below and tell me if I’m crazy or not.  I’m curious is anyone else noticed that.

Overall Thoughts:   It’s a solid IPA.  I had rather low expectations for this particular Sculpin mainly because the Grapefruit Sculpin is one of my all-time favorites and the original Sculpin is a top notch IPA.  So I was mildly surprised with how much I enjoyed it.  It’s more of a summertime/BBQ beer that I don’t see myself buying on a regular basis.  It’s not as good as the Grapefruit or the original Sculpin, but it is superior to the Habanero.

Mixed and Mashed Rating: 

Click here to take a look at our 5-point beer rating system