Review: Ale Asylum Ballistic IPA

do not adjust your tv set - the bottle really is that green

Ale Asylum says:

“Ballistic IPA is a fully loaded American-style IPA. The use of American Amarillo hops give it explosive citrus aromas and aggressive bitterness with a smooth finish.”

Ale Asylum Ballistic IPA
American IPA, 7.5% ABV

Sayeth the Guys:

Ryan: I picked up this straggler at Discount Liquor in Milwaukee.  I could spend hours telling you about how great Discount is and how you should go hours out of your way to stop there.  But that will be a separate post.  For now, lets just say it’s one of the top 10 beer stores in the Midwest.  Hands down.

I call this beer a straggler because it was on the only bottle in its row of singles and was stuffed in the back.  It needed a good home and I had never had an Ale Asylum beer so it seemed to be a good match.

Poured in to a barley wine glass, Ballistic is a murky copper in color.  No head to speak of, even on a slightly ballistic, er, aggressive pour.  The nose is citrus hops; expected and not overwhelming.  Those same citrus hops are the first thing you notice when sampling this beer.  Sips two and three reveal some tangerine and apricot.  Some malts slip in to balance things out a bit.  The hops and nectar flavors flash in and flash out.  There is not much of a bitter finish to this beer or, really, a finish at all.

I think expected and not overwhelming may be the best way to describe this beer overall.  This is a good American IPA but there isn’t much ballistic about it.

One thing to factor in to this review is the amount of time this beer had sat around.  A friend who absolutely loves this beer said he had it on tap when it was first released and it was fantastic, so he picked up a 6 pack.  He said the first bottle he cracked open was spot in with the draft version but the subsequent bottles drank over a couple week span started to fade.  There’s a good chance this bottle had been hanging around for two months or so which could explain the muted flavors.  Seems like this is best, and therefore should be drank, fresh.

More Stuff:

1. Review: Victory Old Horizontal
2. Review: Dogfish Head Aprihop
3. Review: Weyerbacher Hops Infusion
4. Review: Half Acre Ginger Twin India Red Ale
5. Review: Furthermore Makeweight
6. Review: Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot
7. Review: Stone 2007 Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale
8. Review: Half Acre Daisy Cutter Pale Ale
9. Review: Furthermore Knot Stock
10. Review: Half Acre Freedom Of ’78