Ballantine "India Pale Ale"... who remembers?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by diesel59, Mar 12, 2012.

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  1. diesel59

    diesel59 Initiate (0) Jan 3, 2012 New York

    Boy, i sure do miss this stuff... my first ipa... it always got me where i wanted to be in a hurry....
     
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  2. dennis3951

    dennis3951 Initiate (0) Mar 6, 2008 New Jersey

    Are you old enough to have drank it when it was brewed in Newark NJ?
     
  3. Bitterbill

    Bitterbill Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,772) Sep 14, 2002 Wyoming
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I have an empty bottle left.
     
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  4. diesel59

    diesel59 Initiate (0) Jan 3, 2012 New York

    no... when did they close that brewery..... early 70s?
     
  5. Greenlabel

    Greenlabel Initiate (0) Apr 28, 2003 New Hampshire

    I drank it (from the Newark brewery) many years ago but it was so different from anything else I'd ever had that I didn't really like it - even though I loved the regular Ballantine Ale. Now, IPA's are my favorite style - sure wish I could sample the old Ballantine IPA again and see what I'd now think about it.
     
  6. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,611) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I had it in the '75 ish timeframe. It was no longer from Newark, but still there was nothing like it in those days.
     
  7. Bitterbill

    Bitterbill Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,772) Sep 14, 2002 Wyoming
    Pooh-Bah Society

    May 1972, I think.
     
  8. IceAce

    IceAce Pooh-Bah (2,220) Jan 8, 2004 California
    Pooh-Bah Society

    This thread title is akin to firing up the bat signal over Gotham City.

    Paging Jesskidden!

    ::: Pulls up Stool :::
     
  9. diesel59

    diesel59 Initiate (0) Jan 3, 2012 New York

    wwwhhhaaatttt????????????????
     
  10. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,611) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society

    You are new here, correct? Jesskidden will have some statements that will educate all of us on Ballantine IPA. He has a page that has brewry history. If I don't have it bookmarked I should!
     
  11. JoeyBeerBelly

    JoeyBeerBelly Initiate (0) Dec 15, 2006 New York

    Ballantine produced an authentic India pale ale, made from a recipe used in the nineteenth century in England for beer sent to the military forces in India.
    Since this beer had to travel for many months on a sailing vessel in equatorial waters, it had to be long brewed and long aged for four to five months, otherwise its contents would perish before reaching the thirsty consumers.
    The IPA still remains the subject of various chat rooms on the web and is sadly missed.
    It was probably one of the best and most unique beers brewed in America.
    [​IMG]
     
  12. TongoRad

    TongoRad Grand Pooh-Bah (3,848) Jun 3, 2004 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I actually used to see it on the shelves (early 80s, so probably not the real glory days, but still...) and passed it over, thinking of it as an 'old man's beer'. On my list of regrets that's probably not a real biggie, but it's there. By the end of the decade I was starting to get plugged into the homebrewing community and hearing about it, but by then it was too late.
     
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  13. Bitterbill

    Bitterbill Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,772) Sep 14, 2002 Wyoming
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Yep, I had it when it was in Falstaff's capable hands, from the Ft Wayne brewery in Indiana. Dummied down from what the original must have been like but still ever so good.
     
  14. Derranged

    Derranged Initiate (0) Mar 7, 2010 New York

  15. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    Jesskidden remembers. He also once suggested that if you want to come close to tasting it again, mix a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot with an equal portion of Sierra Nevada Celebration. At least one BA who tried it thought his suggestion hit the mark.
     
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  16. Patrick

    Patrick Initiate (0) Aug 13, 2007 Massachusetts
    Deactivated

    That sounds really tasty.
     
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  17. UCLABrewN84

    UCLABrewN84 Initiate (0) Mar 18, 2010 California

    What is occurring here? Excessive flatulence?
     
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  18. Patrick

    Patrick Initiate (0) Aug 13, 2007 Massachusetts
    Deactivated

    I think he is tooting while trying to open a bottle. Reminds me why my girlfriend is always asking me to "get a fucking bottle opener".
     
  19. valdieu2

    valdieu2 Initiate (0) Feb 23, 2012 Maine

    Boy, I had more than a few of these. I have no idea if it would have any interest today but back in the day, if you were an ale drinker, it was the balls. More than one headache from Bally IPA. I think I've got some empties out in the garage.
     
  20. Zimbo

    Zimbo Pooh-Bah (2,281) Aug 7, 2010 Scotland
    Pooh-Bah

    I remember it though by the time I had it in the early 80s it had lost a fair amount of its character given the brewery carousel it was on. And to be fair I probably 'just didn't get it' for that reason and the fact I was a bit of a beer virgin at the time.
     
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