Ballast Point Even Keel

Brewed by Ballast Point Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
San Diego, California USA

Light amber colour. Fresh, floral aroma evokes tropical fruits. Not bad body for a low alcohol beer. Lots of bitterness and tropical fruit flavour. I like the concept of the San Diego Session, and this one is done very well.

this is a successful cocnept beer...kick ass aroma of sugary sweet but floral hops...the color is solid bronz and inviting. flavors were thickly layed out with a sweet citrus hop character and pretty pronounced body for Utah alcohol levels...super clean, super flavorful session ale. props

on tap-pours a white head with bubbles and cloudy yellow color. Aroma is nice citrus hops-lemon. Taste is nice citrus hops-lemon, faint light malt.

On cask at the PP Real Ale Fest. Pours a mostly transparent, honey gold color with a thick head of sudsy white. Clean, refreshing hop aromas of citrusy lemon blossoms and a hint of caramel malt. Simple, but extremely clean with a really fresh hop aroma. Light bodied, creamy mouthfeel with a soft, cask-typical carbonation level. Bready malt flavors with a hint of caramel up front on the palate, followed by a wave of fresh, floral, lemon blossom hops. Wonderfully refreshing and clean for a low ABV beer; completely devoid of the cereal-like grainy malts, astringency, or naked yeast byproducts that often pollute beers in this weight class. Quaffable, and flavorwise, enjoyable enough on cask for me to seek out several pulls. This was the highlight of the RA festival offerings for me.

On-tap at the Carroll Canyon brewery. Pours golden orange with a moderate white head, touch of lace. Smells crisp and floral hoppy, very nice, with some malt as well. Pretty damn tasty for 3.5%abv. Light, floral hops, good malt backbone. Thin light body, crisp carbonation. Awesome beer.

Hell yeah. I like this stuff. The first time I had it was at O’Briens and that followed a strong belgian, so I don’t think those were the right conditions to accurately come to judgement. Had some down at the brewmart today and it was delicious. How do you get such a big body out of a beer with such little alcohol. Trade secrets! Anyway, I’d drink this stuff religiously if they would bottle it. It’s like a safe version of North Star.

Draft at RBSG. Pours a golden amber with a dissipating white head. Great floral hop aroma. Light to medium bodied. Flavor of pale malts and dry biscuit, countered by a nice aggressive citrus and spicy bitterness. Finish is grassy, semi dry and hoppy. Great concept and great beer.

Sampled 1702, Tucson AZ; August 2009
This beer arrives from the tap a darker color than I was expecting; it is an amber, lightly hazy hue that is topped by a thin, pale tan colored head that is typical for a tap pour. There is a nice, clean hop citrus aroma to this that has notes of orange zest, some bright tangerine character, grapefruit, and a solid lychee note. There is a hint of crystal malt character here in the nose that adds light notes of toasted grain and caramel.

This has a nice biting bitterness to it as it first hits my tongue. It is quite dry which mutes the citrus hop flavors, but not completely as notes of grapefruit, tangerine, spicy citrus oil, a touch of lychee and a lingering apricot note in the finish are all noticeable. This is nice and light feeling on the palate, the hops actually provide some astringent mouthfeel that makes this beer seem a bit fuller than it actually is. Some pine and menthol flavors are also here and help to add to the hop complexity. There is just a hint of malt backbone here with notes of toasted grain and a touch of caramel.

This is very nice, I could drink a lot of this if the alcohol is anywhere near 4%, unfortunately there seems to be quite a bit of conflicting information on the actual alcohol content of this beer. This is perhaps not complext enough, but the mix of dominant hop character and light malt backbone in a low-alcohol form makes for a very nice beer.