Ballantine IPA rating

My advance opinion of Ballantine IPA took a hit when I heard a radio commercial calling it "the beer that inspired the craft revolution" or something along those lines. My knee-jerk reaction was a very loud "Oh fuck off!"

Looking at the reviews, however...wow, I might have to seek this one out, just to give it a fair shake.

 

But how is that wrong?

http://allaboutbeer.com/ballantine-ipa/

It's always been talked about in exactly that light, among the beer enthusiasts, so I don't see anything incorrect about their putting it that way.

 

I'm a fan of Ballantine XXX Ale and was excited to try the IPA.

I rated it a 4.

Not Guilty!

 

It's not in the modern style, so it's bound to be polarizing. 87 is nothing to sneeze at for a beer like that, either...and especially considering who makes it. The rating is what it is, and people should make up their own minds in the end.

My only concern is that it finds those who will appreciate it, and it continues to be available.

 

Not an IPA guy, but I give it a bit of a nod. IPA from 1878 brewed in Newark NJ at 7.2%. "America's Original IPA". Pretty cool.

 

Being an old-timer from NJ and have enjoyed many original Ballantine IPA's back in the late 60's on I would have to agree it was a beer FAR ahead of it's time. Truly one of the original "craft" beers. There was simply nothing like it available anywhere. Would love to enjoy just one more from back in those days.

 

Some of the reviews sound like adcopy to me honestly. It was an okay beer. Not really my style IPA but who am I to judge what other people think? The high rating isn't high on my priority list. Glad people liked it.

 

I thought it was decent. I gave it a 4/3.75/3.75/3.5/3.75 for a 3.74

 

Why does it need to be "modern style"?
What concern of it is yours if it continues to be available, beloved poobah?

 

It's pretty good. Holds up to a modern ipa easily. 4/5.

 

The first point has to do with the ratings, not the beer, joe. The OP seems to be wondering why they aren't higher.

The second one is obvious- my main concern is to be able to continue to buy and enjoy it- that's kind of hard to do if they stop making it again.

 

My dad had talked it up to me as this cheap beer he had when he was growing up and was really excited, for nostalgia's sake, to have again. He was not about it being 8.99 though haha. Someone gave it to me as a gift and I was underwhelmed by the sight of it. But can't lie it was pretty tasty. I drank two and gave the other four to my dad but it was actually kind of good. That being said my expectations were low. It certainly goes against the prevailing hopping trends but again I didn't hate it.

 

Dam Yankees like it. Never had it. Would like to. Don't know if I would like it.

 

I thought that last part about availability was supposed to be derisive. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

I can't comment on the beer because I didn't try it. But isn't the verdict a 87?

 

Ballantine India Pale Ale was not "cheap beer" (though, obviously, inflation and one's age are factors. I laughed when the teller at my bank mentioned that she'd never seen gasoline as cheap as today's $2.59. I chuckled, remembering paying 27.9¢).

Here's an ad from Wisconsin in 1959 where Ballantine IPA is nearly twice the price of Budweiser and other US "premium-priced" beers, and nearly 3 times the prices of the local cheapies:

If $6.50 a case sounds good, note that according to the BLS Inflation Calculator, that's the equivalent of $59 today. Or, another way to look at it - if a clerk at that store was making minimum wage ($1/hr) it took him most of the day to afford a case.

In its home market, BIPA was priced at $1.42 a sixpack (NJ State Minimum 1964) - or almost $11 in 2014 dollars.

After moving the brand to Ft. Wayne (after closing Narragansett), Falstaff's batches of BIPA that were hitting the shelves in the early '80s were priced around $4.75 (2014 equiv. = $10-11) = was my reaction at the time. That was pretty close to those new "micro brewery" prices (typically around a buck a bottle). Anchor, for instance, was selling for around $4 - $5 in CA.

Pabst's current price point makes it look like a bargain.

("Doing the math" some might notice that in the 50s and 60s US all "macro" beers were more expensive than they are today, comparatively. "Yeah, no kiddin'..." )

 

This beer was definitely one I was excited to try while visiting New England last month. I'd never had the original (and it's so sad that original recipe is lost) but was aware of the history and love Cluster hops.

I really enjoyed it, enough so that I'd buy it again if we got it here in WA. The hop profile was lovely, but I had to wonder how close it was to the original. It definitely seemed to me that perhaps they were going for a more modern hop profile to grab the young craft crowd.

 

I was actually shocked at how good it actually is. I bought a 6 pack expecting to encounter that half-hearted flavor profile found in many "crafty" brews, and having to pawn 5/6 on less-picky friends but that first bottle proved me so very wrong