Ballast Point Dorado Double IPA

Brewed by Ballast Point Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
San Diego, California USA

Bottle. Orange-hazy pour with an off white head. Citrus and grass come out in front in the aroma backed with some caramel malt. The flavor was between floral and grassy hops...some citrus notes as well...light malt. Medium body with a slightly bitter finish. Pretty decent.

Sampled February 2007
Pours easily with a three-finger thick, frothy, amber tinged tan colored head. The beer is a brilliantly clear, rich, light reddish copper color. Loud fruity hop notes seem as if I just cut into a fresh sweet tangelo with the peel releasing its vibrantly fresh essential oils. The pure citrus essence that the aroma captures is quite amazing, I don’t think I have ever smelled such a distinctively citrus character in a beers aroma before. It makes the aroma a bit one dimensional, but the fruity citrus notes are so vibrant that I don’ t mind at all.

The taste is fairly sweet up front and the citrus character is immediately noticeable. Again it is like this beer has had the essential oils from a mix of tangelos, sweet oranges, and ruby red grapefruit all put in a concentrated form into this beer. Even the bitterness seems to be infused with this over arching citrus character. The bitterness is actually fairly light for an IPA, instead Ballast Point seems to have focused much more on infusing the flavor and aromatics from the hops they used. This is a trend that I have certainly enjoyed, I do like bracing bitterness too, but don’t always need it even in my Double IPA’s, assuming of course that the beer is still stuffed full of hop character. This beer is certainly hop dominated, the malt that is here only plays a supporting role as it is very hard to detect specifics under the hop character. The hop character is so smooth and without any sort of astringency or hard / sharp edges. This beer hides its alcohol content pretty well. It has certain heft to the bottle, but I was expecting a bit more of a substantial body in a beer of this strength. I am glad that it is relatively light, as this is how I like a beer that has IPA somewhere on the label (if it is chewy it should be a barleywine).

Quite enjoyable, I wonder what other brews are going to be released under this robust limited release label. This is not the most complex beer, but it easily defines purely hop driven enjoyment in a glass and for that I am quite happy. Initially this beer was only lightly chilled, as it cooled more in my bucket of ice it picked up some sharp hop edges and a bit more hop bitterness. I think I prefer this only lightly chilled as it is much smoother, though a touch less complex.

Purchased: Park Lane Liquor, Lancaster CA

From a 22 oz. bomber bottle with no freshness date, a blurb along the right side of label, sampled after a few hours in my refrigerator in a tulip glass. Poured a nice golden orange with a small foamy, bubbly topped head that settled into a bubbly thin lacing, minimal amount of laced sticking. Aromas of pine resins, orange zest and grapefruit rind, earthy, dry floral leafiness and a sweet grainy maltiness. Good, even moderate carbonation and a crisp, dry, hop slick, creamy smooth medium bodied mouthfeel. Good hoppy taste with a sweet malty background, earthy soil, dry leafy, citric rind bitterness, a rolling bitterness that softly numbs the tongue, sweet grainy maltiness with a touch of butter, apricot fruity esters that meshes with a clear alcohol flavor, provides a slow warmth in the palate, some nuttiness from the yeast, and a dry hoppy, sweet malty finish. An quite quaffable DIPA, I’ve yet to have a disappointing beer from Ballast Point, plan to visit the brewpub this summer.

meaty beaty big and bouncy. For my 30th birthday we celebrated with a giant dorado on the the beaches north of Puerto Vallarta. Chuy our local buddy keep slapping my hand and telling me to be patient as the giant fish wrapped in tin foil cooked on the open flame. When I finally got to eat the fish... Euphoric.

nice orangy hue with a white fluffy head that fades into a nice ring all the way down the glass. some nice lacing. the aroma and flavor is either dominant cascades or centennial hops...because its grapefruit and orange hoppiness all the way. slightly more malt sweetness than your average IPA, but not quite as sweet as many DIPAs ive had. also, not quite the hopbomb many west coast, and more specifically san diego IPAs are. that said, this is delcious and a highly recommended brew from probably one of the lesser known of the california brews.

On cask at O’Briens. I got the bottom of the barrel on this one. Hazzy, hoppy, good brew. Lots of yeast at the bottom of my glass.

Bottle: Pour a very slightly hazy umber color with a pillowy, two-finger head leaving some clumpy and linear lacing; sweet melon and pink grapefruit nose, a touch spicy; oily palate supporting a sweet front end of toasty caramel, finishes round and bitter with lots of tangy C hops, a little metallic and lightly phoenelic. Damn nice brew.

Draft at Downtown Johnny Browns. Poured hazy dark amber color with an average frothy white head that was mostly lasting with good lacing. Heavy sour citrus hop aroma. Medium body with a sticky texture. Medium smooth balanced flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration.This is a standout beer.