Ballast Point

Thursday nights Mister and I can usually be found at our favorite bar, Jake's Billiards. They're a laid back kind of place with a ping pong table, dart board, a number of pool table, and a couple of other games as well as tables and booths. Oh, and 69 taps. Let's not forget to mention the numerous bottles of beer they have too. I think that number changes though. This place is awesome. There's nothing fancy about it. The atmosphere is casual and chill. The owners are pretty cool, they recognize our faces now, and the bar tenders and staff are always really helpful and friendly. We frequent there more than just Thursday nights, but there's a reason we go on Thursdays.

Everyone looks forward to Fridays, but I look forward to Thursdays. Why? Because Thursday is Pint Night at Jake's. The focus on a brewery, sometimes local and sometimes now, and with a purchase of one of that brewery's beers, you get a free pint glass. Needless to say, we're running out of room in our cabinets and now Mister is having to look into building shelves for his man cave.

Ballast Point Logo - taken from their web page

This past Thursday they highlighted Ballast Point. One of the nice things about Jake's is that they offer beers from all over the states. North Carolina offers a lot of great brews, but it's nice to branch out and see what other states have to offer. Ballast Point hails out of San Diago, CA. That immediately had me intrigued. I'd never had a beer from the West coast before. Yippee! So, what's on tap?

The first one was Sculpin with Ghost Peppers. The boys tried this one and apparently it was spicy, true to its name. Here are the brewer's notes on it;

"Our Sculpin IPA is a great example of what got us into brewing in the first place. After years of experimenting, we knew hopping an ale at five separate stages would produce something special. The result ended up being this gold-medal winning IPA, whose inspired use of hops creates hints of apricot, peach, mango and lemon flavors, but still packs a bit of a sting, just like a Sculpin fish."

I think this beer was neat. While it might not be popular, the idea behind it is unique. I've never heard of a beer like this before and while I wouldn't try it (not a fan of spicy food and ghost peppers scare me!) I'm sure there are dare devils out there who would eagerly stand up to the challenge of taking down a pint or two.

The next was was called Steam boat. They boys both like this one and this is actually what they ended up settling on. Here are the brewer's notes;

"Collaboration with our friends from Briess Malts and White Labs. We collaborated to make a beer and have it ready to be served at the 2012 Craft Brewers Conference. Briess Malts asked us to make a beer for them using their new Blackprinz malt (a husk-less variety of malted barley which they roast to 500 Lovibond). We use Great Western and Briess Malts in the brew to make a Hoppy Black California Common beer. Chinook, Amarillo, Centennial and Crystal hops were all used in large amounts. This warm fermented lager is ebony in color and obnoxiously dry hopped. Our inspiration came from many styles. The hop aromas of an IPA, the smooth roasted flavors and low bitterness from a German Swartz Bier and the fruity aromas derived from a warm fermentation of a lager yeast like a Steam Beer."

Next! It was my turn! Goody, goody! This one was really, really intriguing to me. It was called Boob Check. C'mon, who doesn't like a good brew that has a dirty name? However, this beer is an awareness beer, which makes it more serious. Remember ladies, save the ta-tas.

Boob Check - taken from Ballast Point web page

Yes, the beer really is that color. I should've taken a picture of it in the glass because it's such a nice color. My only gripe about this beer is that it's draft only. I would love, love, love to find this again. I'm really hoping Jake's will have it if we go again soon. Here are the brewer's notes;

"Premium malted barley, Galaxy hops, and British Ale yeast are the base of this hibiscus, cherry, honey, and lime beer. A crystal-clear deep pink hue invites you in while the complex fruity aroma comes from all of the ingredients combined, not just the Cherries. Hibiscus adds some bitterness and color, while the lime adds some acidity."

I am not a beer expert. I don't know what notes or flavors to look for. I just know what I like in a good beer and this, to me, was a good beer. The lime was what stood out the most. Mister and his friend didn't care for it, so maybe it's more of a female friendly beer, but it was delicious.

Our freebie pint glasses - picture taken by me!

Overall it was another successful pint night at Jake's. Ballast Point served up some good beers that didn't fail to impress. All three of us enjoyed our picks and while I can't speak for the other two, I do hope that we'll see Ballast Point on tap at Jake's often.

We're looking forward to next week's when they're bringing in kegs from Foothills brewery!