Number 2 from the Beer Camp Box. Sierra Nevada/Ballast Point Electric Ray India Pale Lager. 8.5% ABV. Shouldn't it be Imperial India Pale Lager? IIPL? And it's either 10 or 70 IBUs. I honestly can't tell if it's a 1 or a 7, but it can't "India" if it's merely 10 IBU.
Slightly hazy, dark golden/amber coloring, under a slim white head.
Aroma: delicately hoppy, pineapple and pine, a little bit of lemon. Nice stuff.
Taste: Mmm. Hops up front, a flash of bright, beaming hoppitude. Lean-bodied. Finishes fruity and bittersweet, ending on a dry note. Crisp, clean, with long-lasting, lingering bitterness on the palate. Okay, I can drink this.
Don't know if I'll ever really be won over to the side of the "IPL", so called. But there's nothing wrong with them. Do they "fix" what I don't like about pale lagers, i.e. the thin body and the low hops. Maybe it's not just hops that I like about ales, it's everything else as well?
Let's read the label, alright? "This nautically named India Pale Lager combines intense citrusy, floral American hops with the clean, classic malt body of a blonde lager." Also, this: "As ever, San Diego's Ballast Point looked to the sea for inspiration. A play on the fish's scientific name--Torpedo californica--Electric Ray pays homage to our Hop Torpedo, the source of much of this beer's big flavor. It's massive grapefruit and floral notes deliver a high-voltage hit of hop flavor."
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