Photo courtesy of http://beer47.com/
Recently, I redeemed a Father’s Day gift certificate for lunch at the Wishing Well. As I had opted for a Shame Burger, I needed a bigger beer to compensate for all of the meat. To that end, from the extensive beer menu, I selected a beer from Ballast Point. Having had the Ballast Point Yellowtail on a trip to San Diego, I was somewhat familiar with the brewery and felt that the Calico Amber Ale would be a good pairing. This beer did not disappoint. From the Ballast Point site:
“Inspired by traditional English ESBs, our Calico Amber Ale is as American as it could be. A rich complexity comes from four types of malt—but it’s those distinct American hops that offer a crisp bitterness and unique floral aroma.
To round out our traditional-English-yet-very-American Amber Ale, we use a proprietary yeast to develop a fruity, Madeira-like richness. Try one today, and find out what a gold medal beer tastes like! ”
I found the Calico Amber Ale to have the following characteristics.
- Appearance: Clear amber. Little foam and lacing.
- Aroma: Sweet malt with a hint of fruit and nut.
- Taste: Crisp, clean with a nice if slightly bitter finish.
- ABV: 5.5%
I thought the Calico Amber Ale provided a good balance in flavor with the scrapple cheeseburger and was quite refreshing. Having had two beers from their lineup, I am intrigued to try more from Ballast Point.
Categories: Ballast Point, Brew Review
AMKrouse
The Alemonger
G-LO
limpd
The Wookie
The ROK
Sarah -BeautifulTangibleThings
The Astounding Prism
It's just the booze dancing... 
Have you had the Sculpin IPA yet?
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I know that you are a huge fan of the Sculpin (having referenced it at least 4 posts) but, to date, I have only had the Yellowtail Pale Ale and the Calico Amber Ale. This might be a beer to find for our next lunch.
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Perhaps I’ll make a Foodery run one night after work and see if they have any in stock. Stay tuned…
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And, I have an Exit 13 Chocolate Stout waiting in the wings. Wet Wednesday? Thirsty Thursday? Frothy Friday?
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Only one good answer… YES!
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The Sculpin is excellent. I’ve had it from both cask and bottle. They had it on tap at a bar I was at last night, but I instead opted for an Oskar Blues Gordon and Smuttynose IPA on cask.
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Finally got around to try this! It has a very nice balance of malt sweetness with a solid hop kick on the back end. Very very tasty beer.
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The Monger can have his Stone and I’ll take Ballast Point. I have had a couple of their line-up and I haven’t been disappointed.
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FYI… The Alemonger is a HUGE Ballast Point fan. Even made a pilgrimage to their brewery during his last trip to San Diego. Can you say Indra Kunindra?
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