Has Ballast Point's quality changed post-sellout?

Regular Sculpin is always out of code, regular VAS doesn't even see shelves here. But 3 nasty extract-flavored variants of each, plus some new gimmicky beers are always sitting there using their newly-deepened pockets to take shelf space from better beer.

Don't care whether individual beers are same quality or not, Ballast Point's beer karma has plummeted.

 

YES, I honestly can't remember the last time I saw bottles with less than 10+ weeks on them at the store. I'd happily snatch them up if <4 weeks.

 

I think sculpin was over rated to begin with. Now it's craft beer's version of the blank-a-rita.

 

Can't comment on its quality and freshness once out of CA, but I (when fresh) found it to be definitely worthy of it's rating/hype. TETO.

 

It took a long time to show up in CO. Maybe it was all the hype behind it helping build it up in my mind.

 

Everybody will have a different opinion. I feel like victory at sea is a bit lest roasty. Then again, I feel like bourbon county is nowhere near as complex and many disagree with me.

 

Reports out of CA at about the time of the sale indicate that trend was already in practice at the brewpub before the sale so indications are that BP themselves had already begun testing out locally with those flavor additions and what's actually new is being able to bottle them for distribution.

 

FYI, only about half of Lagunitas was sold to Heineken, with control of Lagunitas brands remaining under the control of the original owners.

 

That was already happening at the BP brewpub before the purchase.

 

I still drink their stuff and i can't tell any difference in quality other than the number of IPAs with junk added to them. I don't drink as much of their beer as i used to because of the explosion of choices. New local and regional brewers pop up every day and local distributors are bringing in more brands. Perhaps the perceived diminishing of quality has to do with more competition for new breweries.

 

I've had Sculpin(reg) a few times on tap lately and it has been some of the best I've had in recent memory. Don't usually reach for their beers much anymore oddly.

(Un)fortunately being in Atlanta, there is so many IPAs available ( especially Trop for like $11 and Scofflaws offerings) Sculpin @ $16 a six pack for either version usually are shelf turds. So no telling how old those are. It's always slam full when I go by the bottle shop, so either it's moving or sitting. I think the latter however.

I'm still fighting to not try Watermelon Dorado. I refuse!

 

For me Sculpin used to be the benchmark IPA by which I measured all other IPA's. Not sure if its me but Sculpin just does not measure up now and to be honest I think it is still very similar to how it tasted when I first tried it. Now there are so many great IPA's around and I never see it fresh on the shelves around here so I just move along.

 

I recently got a (fresh) sixtel of Sculpin based on my memory of having it in a six pack some time ago. It was the most mediocre IPA I think I've ever had.

 

Ballast Point still drinks blah to me.

 

No change whatsoever.

 

Sculpin was kinda benchmark for me. Until others came out that I enjoyed more and were at a much lower price. Why are they still at the +$13 mark for a 6-pack and $8 for a draught glass? ? I am only willing to pay that for Victory at Sea.

 

Same quality to my taste.

I'm not sure if it is related to the buyout but it has been easier to buy very fresh Sculpin in the last year compared to several years ago. By that I'm talking about anything that is just a few weeks from bottle date.

 

Continue your fight.

 

I'm not so sure about the palate shift myself, although I've used that term before. I can only speak for myself, but I believe my exposure to some truly great IPAs over the years has left me jaded a bit. After drinking Hill Farmstead, Alchemist, Trillium etc as an example back tracking to perfectly good IPAs just doesn't interist me. I'd rather drink an AAL over a middling IPA, and for years all I bought was IPAs. There's a glut of IPAs on the market, a good many are old and stale. Strictly a personal thing, but I don't care for any Ballast Point hoppy beer, I don't like them at all.

 

Agreed, my first sip of it was "wow, this is really not bad" my final sips of the can were "damn this beer is a mess".