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

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

 

I have an empty bottle left.

 

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.

 

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

 

May 1972, I think.

 

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

Paging Jesskidden!

::: Pulls up Stool :::

 

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!

 

from http://www.falstaffbrewing.com/ballantine_ale.htm​

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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.​

​

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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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

That sounds really tasty.

 

What is occurring here? Excessive flatulence?

 

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".

 

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.

 

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.