Stopped by the Beer Yard not long ago to get Cathy another case of überhoppy beer (Green Flash West Coast IPA), and while I was there, Matt gave me a sample bottle of Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale to take home. I got a chance to try it last night, and it was good. Nice balance of hops and malt, and I don't mean in a "the malt hangs onto the edge of the balance table by its fingertips while the hops stomp around beating their chest and roaring" sense, either. I mean the hop flavor was there, but the malt flavor was too. Well-made beer.
I wouldn't mind getting a few more of these west coast ambers.
6 comments:
Ballast Point's Big Eye IPA is quite good also.
My buddy Ed sent me one a few years ago, I made a point of getting more last time we went to San Diego.
Not a malt guy, but I love the malt in that one.
Calico Amber is pretty good (I had it last time I was down in Virginia) but I'll take a Hopback Amber over it any day of the week!
Ryan,
I like Hopback a lot, but it's a really different beer, more like a hefty IPA.
Living in San Diego, I've had a chance to try most of Ballast Point's offerings and I do agree that the Calico Amber is quite tasty. In fact all of their offerings are quite good. My favorites are the Yellowtail Pale Ale, Black Marlin Porter, and Dorado Double IPA. Give 'em a try if they make it out your way.
We do get quite a few; this is Philly, the world sends us beer because we know what to do with it. Hee hee. Seriously, Big Eye shows up on draft fairly often, and we get Yellowtail, but I'd like to try some of that Porter.
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