Ballast Point Piper Down Scottish Ale
A Scottish ale with San Diego spirit.
Our Piper Down Scottish Ale hits all the right notes for the Ballast Point Bagpipe Corps that inspired it. We created this very low hopped, malty ale for the band to enjoy using UK Maris Otter malt, roasted barley, UK hops and low fermentation temperatures. Then we let the brew’s sweet complexity build over a three-hour boil. Full of roasted caramel flavor, it’s a pub classic with Ballast Point personality.
Our Piper Down Scottish Ale hits all the right notes for the Ballast Point Bagpipe Corps that inspired it. We created this very low hopped, malty ale for the band to enjoy using UK Maris Otter malt, roasted barley, UK hops and low fermentation temperatures. Then we let the brew’s sweet complexity build over a three-hour boil. Full of roasted caramel flavor, it’s a pub classic with Ballast Point personality.
3.4
272 reviews
San Diego, United States
Community reviews
22oz bottle from beer club. Pours amber with thin tan head. Sweet malt aroma with a taste of carmel. Smooth on the pallet. Liked this one.
On tap at Ballast Point Little Italy. Dark amber with a small head. On the sweet side with fruit, caramel and light roasted notes. The body was medium as was the bitterness.
I will admit bias towards this style of beer but the flip side of that is that this is one of the few beers that truly changes depending on how it is served. Whether it be bottled,on tap or on a nitro tap, it seems to evolve. My favorite method is on Nitro which for me isn’t a common thing to say, but if you find a place that has a keg of this on nitro,sit down and be ready to be surprised.
It comes out a dark amber colour and holds a commendable amount of carbonation for a style that is typically known to go flat fast, the pour methods previously mentioned seem to extend both the time and bring out subtleties in the brew that otherwise seem to lost from the bottle.
From the bottle it seems to be smooth yet consistently sharp as it finishes in terms of palate, which if consumed with a good pairing or used in cooking a meal like a beef stew with a sour dough bread bowl (something I have done often), can be very rewarding.
Considering its potential to be bitter,it seems very balanced, healthy amount of malt,carbonation,smooth taste,sharp finish,tendency to lace well and over all holds a profile that lends itself to be either consumed directly or used in cooking year round. Next experiment will be to use it for beer battered fried chicken.
Hazy brown pour with offf white head. Aroma is sweet caramel malt and floral notes. Flavor is sweet malt with a pungent sour. Fizzy and bitter to me
On tap at the brewery. Pours a dark amber with small off white head that lasts. The aroma is pumpkin and spice. Medium body, pumpkin, caramel, light finish, good.
12 oz. bottle. Poured copper, foamy off white head. Aroma was sweet malts, bread, brown sugar. Taste was medium sweet, malty, bread, nutty.
A solid Scottish ale without some of the artificial flavors that often plague this genre. If you're looking for a solid no-nonsense Scottish this is a winner.
Had this after 12 mile run so possible it tastes like piss but everything tastes good right now.
A very nice Scottish Ale. Nice and malty. Caramel, sweet bread, raisins and brown sugar. Thick mouthfeel.
A dialed in Scottish ale. Perfectly engineered with a raisiny, sweet bread pairing with a smooth caramel malt in the aroma and flavor make this extremely enjoyable.
Type: 12-oz. bottle
Glass: Clear Hamilton shaker pint plastic glass
From: N/A; Found at in-laws
Price: N/A
Purchased: Nov. 23, 2016
Consumed: Nov. 23, 2016
Reviewed as: Scottish Ale
Misc.: No bottled on date
Couldn’t believe that I had never tried this, let along reviewed it. I like the style, but do not like that Ballast Point sold out like a bunch of chumps (I would have done the same thing for $1 billion. Will try to review fairly.
Poured a red-brown amber clear color with two fingers of khaki frothy head. Some bubbles coming up from the bottom of the glass. Decent spotty lacing. Excellent retention. (Sight - 4.25)
Smelled toffee, roasted nuts, caramel, toasted oak, hints of ashtray, dark fruits and biter black coffee. (Smell - 3.75)
Rather let down on the taste initially. Toasted toffee, dirty oak, roastiness, caramel, dark fruits, brown bread, plum hints of char wood and grain. (Taste - 3.75)
Medium body. Oily texture. Average carbonation. Abrupt, roasty finish. (Feel - 4.00)
Not a bad beer, especially for the style. But still #CraftAdjace. (Overall - 3.75)
3.81 86 B+
Bottle from Liquor Barn. Aroma of roasted malt and cinnamon. Taste is sweet with a nice finish.
Draught at Bishops Arms Gustav.
Clear ruby colored with a medium sized off-white head.
Sweet and fruity aroma of caramel, hay and dried fruits.
Fruity flavor of caramel, bread and dried fruits.
Fruity finish.
Fat @ Bishops Arms GA, Malmö. Konjaksfärgad öl med ett vitt skum. Dofter av malt, karamell, nöt och mjölkchoklad. Smakinslag av ekfat, nöt, karamell och malt. Något tunn i kroppen. Mjuk munkänsla. Nötig och söt eftersmak.
Really good. Doesn't have a Scottish ale feel, more if a strong read ale. Will have again.
Huge cinnamon nose. Pours red brown and clear with a tight tan head. Big lacing. Cinnamon and run in the taste but balanced with a base, bitter-like mouthfeel and sharp sour finish. Super interesting.
You’d be hard-pressed to dock any points from Piper Down when it comes to style guidelines. This looks/tastes/feels like a Scottish Ale. Reddish brown shade with a cream-colored head. Malty toasted aroma - biscuit. Rich taste with a fat caramel note. Some subtle herbal hoppiness but hardly any bitterness to speak of. Extremely smooth with a short finish. Not especially complex but it’s the kind of thing I could drink almost endlessly.
Bottle.
A- Malty, cereal, subtle caramel.
A- Dark garnet color, clear liquid, beige head.
T- Malty, bread dough, caramel, cereal.
P- Medium body, average texture, average carbonation, malty finish.
O- Not a favorite style and while this seemed well done, it still wasn’t too my liking.
Style is a fave and this does not disappoint. Pours dark mahogany with fast-disappeared head, leaving a ring. Aroma is sweet malty caramel and a touch of smoke. Flavor is malty too, maybe a little one-dimensional, but really tasty. Smooth and clean finish make this very enjoyable. Only complaints are this is a little on the light side and not as complex as some better style offerings.
Pours a cola like color. No head at all. Deep malty and fruit aroma. Sweet malty and some dark fruit. Hints towards a barley wine then quickly pulls back.
Bottle from Whole Foods Market in Campbell, CA. Aroma is bready, light caramel, burnt sugar, some metal. Taste is bready, light brown sugar. Not a whole lot going on here. Having side-by-side with Pumpkin Down (which benefits from the additional spice / flavor).
Bottle from the mixed pack. Pours medium amber brown, clear, nice head. Sweet caramel malt focused aroma. Flavor is rich caramel malts, a hint of toast and very faint raisin. Finish is very faintly floral hops, mostly consumed by the malts, with drying bitterness. Enjoyable brew in a style I don’t have very often. Liked it.
On tap at ballast point little Italy. Nice looking caramel beer. Aroma fairly heavy on the dishrag side for me. Bready malts dominate. A little thin.
Bomber from Julio’s. Pours out a rich deep amber color. Pillowy tan head settles to almost nothing. Well balanced sweet malty notes. Easy drinking and very tasty.
Pours a rich leathery brown from a bottle. Don’t get me wrong, the aroma and flavor aren’t leathery. Just the color. The aroma is very slightly of caramel and toffee. Flavor is kind of like a very dry cream soda or something. But absolutely no leather. Good no-leather beer.
Bottle pour into nonic pint glass from One Stop Market. Aroma is caramel, light fruit. Appearance is mainly clear (light haze), reddish dark amber with consistent trace sparkle, fizzy ephemeral finger-width light brown head (like a soda) and no lacing. Taste is moderately sweet caramel, English hops. Palate is medium-to-full bodied with thick, sticky texture, average carbonation and mildly sweet caramel finish. Overall, a straightforward Scottish ale without tremendously bold aroma/taste--especially for the heavy palate--and a pour more resembling a soda. Kinda weird.
Pours a dark mahogany color with a short lived light tan head. The aroma was of sweet caramel. The flavor of was of a sweet caramel that was a little on the medium side. The body was full with a light bitter aftertaste. Overall a good beer.
Bottle poured into English pint. Aroma of malt and slightly metallic. Tastes of coffee and malt. Slight carbonation. Little to no lacing on glass. An average session able ale.
tap - Pours dark amber with a slightly smoky, caramel malt aroma. It has a sweet caramel malt flavor with a hint of smoke. This is an enjoyable medium bodied beer.
Pour is a semi-tan brown with a small creamy head and small lacing. Smell is caramel, roasty, and some nice sweet aromas. Taste is mild caramel, nice calm coffee and a balance of malt. Long lasting caramel and a drying presence
not overly full of whiskey and peat. that my friends is a plus. moderate body with a touch of oil. balanced with sweetness rare for a Scots ale. refreshing and as might gather not overpowering yet genuine. the piper may be down you Bastard but he’s not out!!!