A Ballast Point beer for $4.49 a (22-ounce) bottle? How could I pass up on that? So, I didn’t. I snatched up a bottle of Piper Down Scottish Ale and brought it home, put in my beer “cellar”-and promptly forgot about it. For, like, two years. Well almost two years anyway. According to the label, my bomber bottle was packaged on September 4th of 2014, and I drank it on May 31st of 2016.
Ballast Point Piper Down Scottish Ale is a year-round release, a Scottish-style ale ala Belhaven, and while a little age would be fine on any of Ballast point’s bigger beers, I was worried about a lightly hopped malty ale like this. Would it be oxidized? Had I ruined my bargain beer? Realistically, such a beer should have a 6-month or so shelf-life if properly stored (which I did, keeping from light and heat). That brings it out to about March of 2015, so I was a little more than a year over that.
From the label:
Our Piper Down Scottish Ale hits all the right notes for the Ballast Point Bagpipe Corps that inspired it. We created this very low hopped, malty ale for the band to enjoy using UK Maris Otter malt, roasted barley, UK hops and low fermentation temperatures. Then we let the brew’s sweet complexity build over a three-hour boil. Full of roasted caramel flavor, it’s a pub classic with Ballast Point personality.
Ballast Point Piper Down Scottish Ale has an alcohol content of 5.8% by volume with 22 IBUs.
Ballast Point Piper Down Scottish Ale pours to a murky brown color with a thick creamy head and a sweet malty toffee nose. Taking a sip, the beer is smooth and creamy up front with dry roasted nut flavors, caramel and toffee, brown sugar, and subtle hints of dark fruity raisin. The beer finishes with a touch of malty sweetness.
The malts really sing here folks, even with age on the beer, any my bottle held up wonderfully. That’s what I want in a Scottish Ale, and I think the fruity notes are a result of that aging. Whatever the case, you know this is a beer I’ll be buying again.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft