Ballantine IPA Returning Next Month

[Gillman]

Yes, the legend is back. Ballantine India Pale Ale, made since the late 1800's until the mid-90's, is returning. The label owner, Pabst, is brewing it at Cold Springs Brewery in Minnesota. This beer helped kickstart the current IPA craze and inspired breweries like Sierra Nevada and Anchor Brewing for their pale ales. It is a pre-craft beer with a craft character - I know, I remember it well.

It will be 70 IBU and 7.2% ABV, the company has tried to reproduce the original recipe. (By the mid-90's it was lighter in all respects although still good). This hails from a time when the hops were not the current citric type, but more earthy/floral, more British in nature (as say in Fuller's beers, or Greene King, or Wells Young's pale ales).

Google for more details.

Gary

[callmeox]

As a child, our neighbor was a great consumer of Cutty Sark and Ballantine Ale. When he couldn't make it to the store for his own beer, he would phone ahead to and let them know he was sending one of us with money to pick up a 6 pack for him.

When we would drop off the beer and change from the purchase, he would hand us back the coins as a tip and send us off with "don't spend it all in one beer joint."

Man, I miss the guy.

Since I was too young for beer drinking back then I will be glad to toss back a few in his memory when it is released.

[Gillman]

Scott, that is a nice memory. Pabst never stopped selling the regular Ballantine Ale, called Balantine XXX. It is nationally available although parts of the country don't see it. Comes in a green can. Still very worthy. But Ballantine IPA was quite different, much more like a high quality British ale or some of the current craft ales. The beers originated in Newark, NJ, thence to Cranston, RI, then out to a brewery in Indiana. Today Pabst owns no breweries but has the beers made at different breweries. I believe the XXX is made in Pennsylvania. The IPA will be made in Minnesota, probably the smaller scale of Cold Springs suits it.

Gary

Edited August 15, 2014 by Gillman

[SBOmarc]

Scott, thanks for that. I think that there were men just like that in my neighborhood. Although the beer Distributors in Philadelphia would deliver, it was on a weekly basis. Sometimes the supply just didn't meet the demand. I made good money being delivery boy, on demand. I will be looking for the Ballantine Ale." The flavor's great at the 3 ring sign"!

[Harry in WashDC]

That's ale, brother; brother, that's ale. My memories of it are indistinct- a combination of my age now and how much of it we consumed back then.

EDIT - just remembered - "Back then" was in the early-1960s in New York - beer drinkers only needed to be 18, and we thought Ballantine was special because it was called "ale" instead of "beer".

Edited August 15, 2014 by Harry in WashDC

[BourbonJoe]

Great news Gary. Ballentine IPA was my go to ale back in the day. It will be again. :grin:

Joe :usflag:

[Gillman]

Joe, check in the stores, it should be any day now!

[amg]

I wonder if they'll increase distribution if it does well. I'll have to look for this the next time I'm out east.

[unclebunk]

Yes, the legend is back. Ballantine India Pale Ale, made since the late 1800's until the mid-90's, is returning. The label owner, Pabst, is brewing it at Cold Springs Brewery in Minnesota. This beer helped kickstart the current IPA craze and inspired breweries like Sierra Nevada and Anchor Brewing for their pale ales. It is a pre-craft beer with a craft character - I know, I remember it well.

It will be 70 IBU and 7.2% ABV, the company has tried to reproduce the original recipe. (By the mid-90's it was lighter in all respects although still good). This hails from a time when the hops were not the current citric type, but more earthy/floral, more British in nature (as say in Fuller's beers, or Greene King, or Wells Young's pale ales).

Google for more details.

Gary

Wow. That is amazing good news! Ballantine XXX and IPA are so closely linked in my mind to my childhood in NYC, when my father and uncles kept the Newark brewery in business with all the cases they consumed, that I've been collecting Ballantine memorabilia ever since whenever I come across it. I haven't seen the IPA for at least 25 years now, though the XXX was very sporadically available here in Chicago until about 5 years ago when it disappeared altogether. Truth be told, the XXX was a pale imitation of its former self the last few times I bought it, so I'm really hoping that they get the IPA right. I'm truly excited by this news and can't wait to pick up a few cases. As you said, the judicious use of hops always reminded me of the great English ales, making Ballantine IPA one of the finer beers produced by an American brewery. Edited August 18, 2014 by unclebunk

[unclebunk]

Just read somewhere on-line that distribution will be limited to nine Northeastern and mid-Atlantic states. That could be a major bummer for me, though I hope the beer's success will result in wider distribution extending to the Midwest and Chicago market.

[SBOmarc]

Vegas? One can only hope.

[Gillman]

I'm sure it's just a question of time, but press your retailers to get some anyway.

[PaulO]

I have purchased Ballantine Ale in KY several times in the past. It was always in green long necks. I never saw more than a couple sixes together on the shelf. The last time I was there, I didn't see it. Back in the '90s, I tried the Ballantine IPA. This was before there were many highly hopped beers around. It was indeed very hoppy, amber colored, and about as strong as malt liquor.