Ballantine India Pale Ale
First introduced in America in the late 1800’s Ballantine IPA was a beer for connoisseurs. It has been credited as an inspirational influence for the present day craft beer revolution in America. Handcrafted by our master brewers, this delightfully hoppy brew resurrects its deep heritage and storied past to embody an IPA worthy of the original Ballantine name. For well over a century the interlocking Borromeran Rings showcased on our label have come to signify Purity, Body, & Flavor, just like the delicious Ballantine IPA inside. We hope you enjoy it.
3.5
154 reviews
Irwindale, United States
Community reviews
Bottle to glass mug. Pours a cloudy copper / yellow color with a sparse off white head. Aroma of floral and citrus, nice mouthfeel, chewy with a good malt backbone. Great hop notes of floral and citrus coming through on flavor. Very solid.
Draught pint at Smith’s Bar, Hells Kitchen, New York on 25-Oct-2015. Hazy amber colour, with an off-white head. Lits if pine in the nose, together with malt, tropical fruits and citrus. Medium body and carbonation. Grapefruit, tropical fruits, caramel malt and lots of hops on the palate. A long bitter finish. An excellent IPA. Recommended.
Amber pour. Off white head. Plenty of lacing. Huge hoppy aroma, pine, floral. Malty as well. Big malty taste with a spicy piney note.
Deep Golden, not much head. Earthy, woody and somewhat alcoholic aroma. Earthy, quite chewy, woody accent. Moderate bitterness. Crystal sweetness. Clean, well-made old school IPA. Glad they brought it back.
On tap. Golden pour with nice head and outstanding lacing. Very malty, lots of caramel and grapefruit sweetness. Citrus, pine and resin hops. A good amount of hops in attempt to balance out the huge malt bill. I enjoyed it.
Bottle. Nose very malty (almost entirely a caramel base) and also hoppy, heavy with dough, resin, and especially pine; there are lesser green and vegetal notes here, but they don’t detract (I’ll just consider them a sign of undeniable freshness). Pours deep amber/light brown, hazy-opaque with a frothy beige head. Taste is very interesting right off the hop, very bold in flavor, strong caramel and pine/resin/dough, fluttering but sharp citrus flashing underneath, touch of "offness" on the medium bitterness that’s not quite rubber. Medium body with a hollow channel up the middle, never feels heavy or dull, and there’s a strong intrinsic woody character that really accumulates toward the end. Relatively dry on the whole, a little muddied on the malt side, and fruit presence is nil other than the role defined citrus. This version of he beer is all about the interplay between that toasty/woody caramel and the piney hops; there’s a lot of overlap with traditional Barleywine, including the alcohol, which is getting up there. Not for everyday. [2015.10.30: 3.2]
P.S. On second thought, I think I need a much fresher bottle (this one’s about five months old). There’s enough oil here to suggest a much better hop profile.
Can from Total Wine, North Miami, Florida, USA. A hazy orange/amber coloured pour with a medium white head on top. Hoppy, malty, grapefruit, caramel aroma. Tastes similar, hoppy, malty, grapefruit, caramel, hint of sweetness. Decent.
Bottle. Pours golden amber with a thin white head. Floral aroma with citrus, piney hops and caramel. Flavor was lightly sweet and moderately bitter with caramel, citrus, pine, grapefruit and had some notes of orange peel.
Poured from a 12 OZ can into a pint glass. The beer is a murky amber colored ale with a thick off-white head. The aroma is an overwhelming hop aroma, very nice especially if you are a hop head. The flavor is hop overload with a nice bite. The beer is medium to heavy bodied with low carbonation. The ABV is pretty well hidden and it is a really enjoyable brew.
Aroma citrus, fruit and slightly sweet malts. The flavor is citrus, biscuit/English malts, fruit and a bitter/tangy finish.
Ballantine IPA has a very thick, foamy, spongy, off-white head, an opaque, orange-gold appearance, and heavy lacing left behind. The aroma is of white bread, subtle sweetness, and mango. Taste is of rather intense hop oil (pine and mango), white bread crust, and bitterness. Mouthfeel is high medium, and Ballantine IPA finishes semi-dry and easy going. RJT
This poured a light orange with a white head. Aroma was citrusy hops and light caramel malt. Flavor simular, more of a traditional east coast ipa, but fresh and clean. Decent.
Botle:
Cloudy amber with a small white head.
Sweet tangerine, peel scent.
Candied orange, pink grapefruit, orange-peel flavours.
Sugary and nectary...very light feeling.....
Sweet, solid.
Bottle. Sugar, orange, malt, and orange peel aroma. Hazy golden yellow with large off-white head. Mildly sweet orange malt and moderately strong grapefruit peel/pine flavor. Nice balance. Pretty good.
Cloudy yellow/orange color. Mild grapefruit nose. Lots of nice lacing on the glass. India Pale Ales are usually good and this one is no exception. But it’s not any different than any of the others. Bottle.
Copper in color. A complex aroma. Lots of grapefruit flavors. Some bready malt in the background. A little heavy and higher carbonation. Bitter after taste.
BOD 5/27/15. Pours a clear medium amber with just a hint of garnet. World class head volume, lacing and retention.
Outstanding nose of citrus rind and spruce/pine over a rich biscuit. As it warms, orange is noted as well as a bit of caramel.
Rich medium body that is so smooth it is almost creamy. Superb carbonation with a nice effervescent burst in the middle and a finely bubbled prickly finish.
The outstanding flavor profile is intense, complex and very well balanced. It begins with a burst of hop flavor that is mostly pine, but spruce and orange rind elements are present. The middle brings a mild bitterness, perhaps a bit light for the style, which is met with a balancing biscuit sweetness and caramel undertones. The finish is where the strongest orange notes appear over a receding sweetness. A mild pine and rind bitterness lingers with a slight alcohol note and associated light astringency.
Slightly dated bottle into tulip glass, cloudy golden-hued copper color with light tan head. Aroma notes of caramel malt sweetness, nice fruitiness and citrus/pine hops. Taste adds bread and more herbal/earthy hop bitterness. Medium body, moderate-low carbonation, dry, creamy with some lingering pine finish. More English IPA in flavor but American in intensity, pretty nice solid IPA I want to try fresher.
On draft at the Trout and the Troll in Byram. Amber orange in complexion with diminishing had and consistent glass lacing. The flavor is mild grapefruit. Smooth palate. Easy to session
Bottle from the Malt Shoppe in Tosa. Orange brown pour with an off-white head leaving streaky lacing. Nose is english pale malts, muted pine, and some fruitiness. Taste is tangy pine, sweet toffee, light grapefruit, some pineapple and some chewy resin. Some earth and some alcohol. Medium bodied and sticky. Finishes more bitter and tangy than sweet. Solid old-style english pale. 13.4
This is supposedly America’s first IPA and one of the beers that started the whole dynasty of craft brewing here in the United States. As all things it is all about who you ask.
Off the initial flavor it is good. Has that strong IPA flavor that I have come to love. At 7.2 alc/vol it has the potential to taste almost like an imperial IPA but it stays true to the craft. Slight citrus taste with a floral afterflavor. It sits on your pallet better than most IPA’s.
Recommended for the avid IPA fan although there are ones that stay on the pallet better than this.
After one beer I have that bitter flavor in my mouth in a more pleasant variety than normally expirienced.
Bottle. Citrus, pine, caramel nose. Cloudy orange-amber. Lacy head. Resiny flavor, citrus, caramel, strong bitterness. Old school IPA all the way, and decently done.
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl - Total Wine - 12 oz can. Slightly murky, medium copper pour, sticky khaki colored head, Aroma is slightly funky with some toe jam essence, a touch of spruce. Flavor has a solid bitter presence, definitely more English oriented than American west coast. Pick up some apricot fruitiness, a touch of caramel sweetness. Mouthfeel has a decent thickness to it. Pleasantly surprised,
The amber colored body was quite clear, and was topped with a three plus finger of foam, which made it hard to pour the entire can into the glass. The can appeared to be a throwback design, recalling the historic origins of the original beer. The smell of the beer was less citric than the "modern" American IPA, but wasn’t rotted entirely in the earthy English hops either. It seemed to be a mix of both styles to me, with some dank herbal earthy notes, and some bright citric ones. The taste was similarly a mix of the evolving IPA style, with both English and American traits, and also some oak from the torpedo they dipped into the aging tank. The body was a little thinner than is the norm nowadays for the style, but the aftertaste was long and very woody. I never got to taste the original beer, but the new one is a nice and comfortable IPA with some interesting character.
Golden in color. Aromas of citrus, hints of lemon. Citrus flavors with a taste of lemon and a bit of floral elements . Moderately bitter on the palate.
Bottle from bobby clark, it was ok. Nice notes of grapefruit, pine, caramel, but a little thin...balance was off.
Aroma is an outstanding citrus (grapefruit) and pine. Pours a nice copper with a white head. Nice lacing. Flavor doesn’t match aroma. Bread and hops. Disappointing.
Bottle at Fado. Very hazy orange copper pour. Slight fizzy/foamy white head. Hints of a red ale but well hoppy for an IPA. Bitter citrus pith. Some unusual flavors. Pimento. Green tomatoes. Persimmons. Spaghetti squash. Ketchup. Red pepper caramels. Well made (and I appreciate that) but the notes fall in the wrong spots for me.
Slight hazy orange with a huge white head. Spicy hop aroma. Medium bodied and well balanced. Smooth amd soft.
Pours a amber-rust orange. Has a fruity malt and light citrus hop aroma. A sweet taste of fruit malts, citrus, hops, caramel and pine. A lingering sweet fruit and malt aftertaste.