If you pay a visit to the Ballast Point website, you wouldn't be wrong to think that you mistakenly navigated to the website of a fresh fruit purveyor. Pineapple, watermelon, mango, grapefruit, and habanero. These ingredients are used in five of the first six beers listed on their website. I've had their Habanero, Pineapple, and Grapefruit Sculpin, and while all three were somewhat interesting, these extra ingredients didn't improve upon their standard issue Sculpin which is one of my all time favorite IPAs.
Although I was somewhat ho-hum with the Sculpin variations, when it comes to food and drink, I'm always willing to give something a try, so when I noticed that Ballast Point's Watermelon Dorado was available, I picked up a bottle. Here's what Ballast Point has to say about their Watermelon Dorado:
Our Watermelon Dorado Double IPA is not one to back down from big flavors. Mash, kettle, and dry hopping blend to create a huge hop profile that is balanced with a blast of watermelon. The result is a refreshing brew that is all summer and no seeds.And here's what I thought about it...
- Appearance: I love the way this beer looks! Crystal clear, pale orange color with a slight reddish tint and a thick, one inch head of off-white foam. It practically screams, "DRINK ME!".
- Aroma: The watermeloniness is definitely there on the nose. I'd love to say that it smells like a fresh cut watermelon, but it leans more towards the Jolly Rancher spectrum of watermelon aromas since it has a definite sweetness to it. After that, there's some sweet tangerine and a bit of pine cone coming through too.
- Taste: That first sip is a bit odd, mostly because I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The mouthfeel is a bit heavy. By that I mean that this beer has some weight to it, i.e. it's kind of syrupy with a lightly creamy carbonation. There's a definite booziness and once you read the label, you know why. 10% ABV! Ballast Point ain't messing around! As I take more sips, this beer really starts to grow on me. It has a hearty hop bite, immediately followed by some watermelon sweetness. The finish is lightly bitter with some lingering watermelon flavors.
- ABV: 10%
Overall, once I adjusted to the weirdness that is Watermelon Dorado, I really grew to like this beer. This is a well balanced and boozy Double IPA that is definitely worth trying.
