Ballast Point | Four Brewers Podcast

Season 3, Episode 51 – This week, we find out who will rein supreme in the battle between the Light side of the sea, and the Dark side.

Does anyone else smell fish? What is that? Oh, pshht…I know what it is. It’s a Sculpin from Ballast Point Brewing, and an Invasive Species from Beachwood Brewing! We invited both of these underwater dwellers to battle it out on the show this week, with hopes of figuring out which one of these is the bigger fish to fry.

A little back story: once upon a time, Ballast Point Brewing out of San Diego, California, was one the most respected craft brewers in the San Diego beer scene, until the company was sold to Constellation Brands, Inc. for a cool one billion clams (snicker). Since then, many beer geeks have written the brewery off as a “sell out” and stopped buying their products, and some have decided to overlook the buyout and just focus on the beer. But, just because a brewery sells to a larger macro brewery or company doesn’t necessarily mean the quality of their product will suffer, although sometimes recipes and practices tend to change over time to drive down cost and increase profit. In the case of Ballast Point, the beers are still pretty great for the most part.

Enter Beachwood Brewing. Beachwood has been very vocal about their brewing independence and dedication to true craft beer. In a very tongue-in-cheek move, they decided to brew a series of beers that were inspired by Ballast Point’s Sculpin IPA and variants thereof, that positioned Beachwood to both comment on and snub Ballast Point and their wildly popular fruited beers. While they didn’t come out and blatantly say “fuck you,” to Ballast Point (for whatever reason, outside of the obvious craft vs. macro battle cry), the line of beers they brewed and subsequently named “Invasive Species” (with a depiction of a dead fish on the beer bottle’s label) sure did imply it. Fight!

So, here we are. We purchased the freshest Sculpin IPA and variants of Sculpin IPA (and Even Keel) that we could find and put them up against the two-week-old bottles of Beachwood’s Invasive Species IPA and variants. Who will prevail? You can probably guess who we’re rooting for…

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Beers from this week’s episode:
Beachwood Brewing – Invasive Species
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits – Sculpin IPA
Beachwood Brewing – Mango Invasive Species
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits – Mango Even Keel
Beachwood Brewing – Grapefruit Invasive Species
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits – Grapefruit Sculpin
Beachwood Brewing – Habanero Invasive Species
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits – Habanero Sculpin

Direct audio: MP3

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4B Theme Song: The Sleeping Sea King

Season 1, Episode 3 – A plethora of delicious craft brew on this week’s show reminds us that we are living in a great time in craft beer.

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This week on the show, we are quite possibly, drinking all the beers. Well, more like seven different beers, but hey, it’s still a lot of brew. Jason brings us some brews from the northwest from Bale Breaker Brewing and Fort Gorge Brewing. We wrap things up in the first segment with a tasty brew from Los Angeles based brewery, Monkish Brewing.

Monkish Brewing, Fort George, and Bale Breaker Brewing Co.

Feature: “Guess That Brew!”

In the second segment of the show, we introduce our game of sorts, “Guess That Brew.” Basically, we read reviews of different beers from the internet and try to guess which beer the reviewer is describing. It’s actually pretty entertaining. Give it a listen, then try it out with your friends.

Feature: “Going In Blind…”

Hangar 24, Firestone Walker, Dogfish Head, and Ballast Point Brewing Co. beers for “Guess That Brew!”

The final segment of the show is a true test of our collective beer analysis skills. We’re drinking four random brews, procured by our lovely assistant (and Jason’s significant other) Sara. Again, give the segment a listen and try it out for yourself. You’ll be surprised how much you really don’t know about your favorite brews.

Cheers, and we’ll see you next week!

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