BrewDog / Ballast Point San Diego Scotch Ale

BrewDog / Ballast Point San Diego Scotch Ale

Bottled; Special

Brew-Date: 16th November 2011

Location: BrewDog HQ, North East Scotland

The Team: Martin, James & Stewart (BrewDog) and Yusseff Cherney (Ballast Point)

The Beer: A San Diego Scotch Ale. OG 1090

The Hops: Challenger, First Gold, Amarillo

The Twist: This beer has been aged in whisky casks with raisins soaked in Ballast Point Rum (they were amazing!)
3.8
162 reviews
Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Community reviews

4.0 Pours a brown with a slight brown head. Aroma is vanilla, raisins and alco warmth. Taste is caramel, slight toffee, slight berries and a hint of tartness.
3.8 Lukt: Mye krydder, rosiner og honning. Utseende: Brun farge. Skum/kullsyre: tynt skumm, ring langs kant. Smak: Krydder, rom, rosiner og honning. Hvor: Kjøpt@VP Kvadrat, Nydt@Lokal tasting med Bryne. Medium: Flaske@330ml, ABV@11,9%, Når@24.04.2015
4.4 330ml Bottle. Aroma of raisins and rum and plum. Palate is full bodied with raisins upfront with a rum backbone sweetness. Taste of other dark fruits such as plum. Boozy warmth fills you up few seconds later. Wonderful decadent beer.
3.9 Bottle from Asahiya. It pours a cloudy deep milky reddish brown with a minimal beige head. The nose is sweet barrel, raisins & malty caramel. Super smooth full body. The taste is oaky maple rum barrel sweetness, raisins and sweet syrupy fruits fantastic taste.
3.7 Bottle, batch 218, enjoyed 2,5 years after bottling. Pours black, with a two finger thick, but fairly quickly receding, mocha head. Aroma is beautifully roasted malts, with dark fruits, bread and toffee, as well as oak barrels with notes of smoke and vanilla. Medium to full body, with soft carbonation. Flavour is deep, dark roasted malts, which at first hits with intense whisky notes, rum raisins, wood and leather, as well as notes kandi, dark fruits, cocoa, coffee, molasses and pleasant boozy notes. Lingering sweet malty finish. I often find scotch beers a bit one dimensional with sweet roasted malts, but this adds interesting and tasteful layers on top of that.
3.7 alla spina. Aroma di torrefatto, legno, whisky, cereale, spirito. Al palato corpo denso, potente con sentori intensi di legno, torbato e cereale.
3.6 January 24, 2015. Bottled july 5, 2012. Shared by tderoeck, thanks Tim! Light hazy amber with a small brown head. Aroma is caramel, alcohol, light peat, pear, bourbon, raisin, vanilla. Taste is sweet malty, light peat, some alcohol and bourbon notes. Finish is light roasted, alcohol and raisins. Medium bodied, soft carbonation.
3.9 23/I/15 - 33cl bottle @ "I need to get rid of my Belgian ticks" tasting - BB: n/a (2015-98) Thanks to Alengrin for sharing the bottle! Clear red brown beer, small aery beige head, unstable, bit adhesive. Aroma: sweet, caramel, vanilla, some chocolate, bit of alcohol, sugary. MF: soft carbon, medium to full body. Taste: little sour, malty, caramel, some chocolate. Aftertaste: spicy, cinnamon, caramel, little sweet, vanilla.
4.4 Thanks to Alengrin! 330 ml. bottle sampled @ “Tim needs to get rid of his ticks” Tasting. Enjoyed together with tderoeck, Benzai & Alengrin. Bottled on 05-07-2012. This is one of those rare(r) BrewDog’s that impress. Dark brown, red-hued, little tanned head. Aroma created quite a lot of confussion, lots of different smells in different glasses. 1) Optimal sample: strongly boozy, lots of spirit but high quality spirit, raisin, raisins bread & thick caramel sweet 2) Debatable sample(s): less booze, sweeter, dark fruits & lots of vanilla. Taste is warming, good quality spirit & good oxidation notes, thick caramel sweetness, beautifully oxidized malts, sweet rum, sweet spices, sugar, ripe raisins soaked in alcohol,… Very much a malt beer,… Thick malty body that coats the throat. Quite lovely, a real sipper. It could be a bit more expressive but it is great already.
3.7 Sampled from bottle @ Tim needs to get rid of his ticks tasting. Nice medium to dark reddish brown color, medium to full sized beige to light brown head that lasts for a decent while. Aroma and taste are malts, some alcohol, warm dark raisins, bitter, some roast. Medium body and carbonation. Pretty nice!
4.0 Dried fruits, caramel. Deep brown color. Full body with fairly sweet taste. Dried fruits like plum and raisins.
4.0 12 oz bottle courtesy of Chris, served in a stem glass. Pours medium brown with a small, tan head that remains as a thin remnant and leaves a trace of lace. The nose has big brown sugar and molasses, along with vanilla, oak, rum, cane and raisins. The flavour is medium sweet throughout with brown sugar, raisins, oak, rum and scotch. The finish is long and peaty with brown sugar and slight rum. On the palate it is medium-full in body with a smooth, milky texture and soft carbonation. Overall, a great scotch barrel-aged scotch ale with rum-soaked raisins imparting an even greater degree of complexity. 2014-12-06
3.8 Bottle. Red brown colour with a beige head. Aroma is alcohol, malt, dried fruits. Flavour is alcohol, malt, hop, dried fruits, rum ,raisin. Full body. Nice, but a little bit boozy.
3.7 Bottle @ koelschtrinker Tasting: Leicht trübes sehr dunkel rötlichbraunes Bier mit geringer beigen Schaumkrone. Geruch sehr kräftig malzig, Vanille, Holz, reife Früchte. Geschmack sehr kräftig malzig, Vanille, holzig, reife Beeren, alkohholisch, schwer zu trinken.
3.4 Rund malziger, minimal alkoholischer Antrunk. Wenig getreidig, deutliche Röstnoten. Minimale passende Säure, rund, vollmundig. Intensiv malzig, unsüffig. Gut! 10/11/10/12/11/11
3.7 Bottle (33cl). Batch 218 (bottled 05-07-12), 11.6% ABV. Murky dark brown colour. Small light beige head, leaves a thin ring. Sweet aroma of raisins, whisky, rum, burnt wood, smoked meat. Medium/full body, soft carbonation. Taste is very sweet at first with notes of rum, then more dry and woody, before finishing quite astringently bitter and herbal with licorice notes.
2.7 Forte brune écossaise vieillie en fût de whisky. Prise en digestif, c’est lourd, pesant, le malt se fait bien sentir, pas désagréable au goût mais difficile. A boire très occasionnellement. Cependant, à retester pour un autre jugement. Bouteille bue au bar La Tête à l’envers, Vincennes, France, le 13/10/2013.
4.2 Collaboration of Brewdog with Ballast Point, apparently an interpretation of the Scotch style with rhum-soaked raisins and matured in whisky barrels. Sticky, dense, yellowish beige head which remains surprisingly closed all the time, colour a very dark ruby red, almost black, misty. Strong and seductive bouquet of indeed rhum, whisky and raisins, but cleverly embedded in aromas of cocoa powder, coffee with milk, fondant, molasses, fresh orange peel, figs, gingerbread, pipe tobacco, liquorice, pine needles and vanilla. Strong candied fruit sweetness, but in an elegant, noble way, granular and oily, thick mouthfeel, profound chocolatey, caramelly and roasted maltiness, rich and utterly satisfying finish of booze (bourbon and brown rhum), oaky tannins, spicy impressions, velvety and bitterly roasted maltiness and citrussy hops. Excellent.
4.2 Bottle at home. Pours dark brown, nose is chocolate, toffee, raisins, taste is smoky, rich, chocolate, fruity.
5.0 Perfect scotch ale. Outsatnding aroma, mindblowing taste. Great role of whisky/cherry casks and raisins. Awesome!
3.7 Bottle. A dark brown beer topped by a dense, light beige head. Booze, dried fruits, caramel, rum raisin, wood and some ash. Some hoppy notes. It’s quite warming on the palate, with rum raisin, caramel, wood, ash, bitterness, pine cones and a touch of alcohol. Full body and a pleasant carbonation level. Lasting boozy and lemony finish with licorice and roasted malts. Pretty nice, but a tad boozy. 140717
3.7 Bottle 330ml @ geokkjer Pours dark brown with a off-white head. Aroma has notes of malt, caramel, alcohol, raisin and dried fruits. Taste is medium to heavy sweet and light to medium bitter with a long warm, caramel and fruity finish. Body is full, texture is oily, carbonation is soft.
3.7 Bottle. Pours dark brown with off-white head. Aroma of caramel, malt, raisins, some rum notes, alcohol and ash. Flavor is sweet and malty with some warming alcohol,caramel, raisins, wood, chocolate and caramel. Medium to full body, soft carbonation.
3.4 Bottle from BrewDog Online Store (cellared since 2012). Muddy dark brown, minimal light brown head, sugary malt, dried fruits, oak, rum & raisin, low bitterness, medium sweetness, thick, syrupy texture, long boozy finish. Nice.
4.1 Bottle from webshop brought over by mother in law thx. Sheila cons 2014-05-30 Göteborg , vintage 2012 AR: Madeira, brandy, plums and rasins spakes in alchol AP: thick and oily concistence - dark ruby brown, wee fizzy sanskriten deminishing head F: wee soft bubbly carbonation, woody, rasins, vanilla, smooth body, heavy warming feeling, caribbean rum drink and pipe smoking pirates, -
4.0 duft: sød. en smule karamel. svag duft af kaffe. smag: kaftig smag af karamel malte. sødme. citrus. man for nemmer humlen. til slut kommer smagen frem af alkohol og fad og mørkebær
4.2 Botella 33 cl de zombier tomada en el momento en Oviedo 15..03..2016. (r153). Lote 218 embotellada en 05..07..2012. Muy muy buena. No varía..........................Botella de 33 cl en llamas de zombier en 19-04-2014 en el momento. Lote 218 embotellado en 05-07_2012. color caoba con espuma marrón claro persistente. Aromas intensos a uvas pasas con maderas empapadas de licor, toques tostados y quemados que afloran al calentar. Cuerpo medio con 11.9 vol bastante intensos y que se notan en todo momento, haciéndose algo mas ligero a medida que va calentando. Paso por boca denso, pastoso y con bastante sensación de licor pasando poco apoco según calienta a mas ligero. Sabores también de frutas pasas, ligeramente dulces al inició, seguido de agradable sensación ligera de licor con un final de madera quemada y carbón bastante intenso y algo de amargo. Muy muy buena cerveza,para repetir sin duda. Fantástico el regusto de madera carbonizada y carbón final.
3.7 330 ml bottle. Clear, deep mahogany body with a fast disappearing tan head. Nice aroma of mainly dark malt, whisky and wood with some dry fruit. Slightly boozy but pleasant flavor of dark malt, whisky, wood, dry fruit, brown sugar and warming alcohol with moderate bitterness. Fine body and long aftertaste. A nice beer for sipping.
4.3 Bottle from Amstein - Rubis color with beautiful tan head, beautiful lacing and good lasting - Aroma is very complex honey, raisin, rum, malty, caramel, alcohol, oak and roasted malt - Flavor is rum , raisin, oak and caramel - Full body, medium bitterness, fizzy carbonation, malty rum raisin alcohol finish - interesting and really good beer, impressive alcohol kick at the end, IMO need to be cellared for some years
3.6 Appearance: Clear dark brown with ruby highlights and 2 finger thick ivory/tan head. Aroma: Resinous, pine, woody, spiritous, raisin, liquorice, peat, note of spice. Taste: Medium/high bitterness, medium sweetness with low/medium sourness, slight saltiness. Palate: Thick coarse texture medium/heavy body, low/average carbonation, lingering dry spiritous, woody, dried fruit, spicy, earthy, peaty finish with alcohol warmth. Comments: Tasty and glass lace. Batch 218 bottled on 05.07.12 ABV 11.9%.