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The roots of Pirate Life’s brewing style can be traced back to the US. West Coast Pale Ales are the foundation that the craft beer revolution was built on. The new hop cultivars that sprung up in the pacific Northwest during the 80s and 90s gave brewers the chance to fully realise the incredible array of flavours that hops could deliver.
The craft beer industry evolved slowly but began to snowball as more and more people discovered these new hop forward beers. What were once small brew pubs expanded into fully fledged production facilities, craft beer was no longer a hobby, it became a billion-dollar industry. Among these trail blazing breweries was Ballast Point. Once a small brewery at the back of a home brew store in San Diego it now consists of several sites, including a huge 100 thousand square foot brewery and their amazing hopped up beers are available the world over.
Last year at the Beertopia Beer Festival in Hong Kong we ran into Chris Roberts who handles Ballast Points worldwide sales. He liked our IIPA so much he stuck around drinking it all afternoon. An idea was tossed around, Pirate Life and Ballast Point should brew a beer together...
So earlier this year when we were in the USA for the 2017 Craft Beer Conference we hitched a plane to the West Coast and caught up with Ballast Points Speciality Brewer, Colby Chandler. A day of touring Ballast Points massive brewery and drinking a bunch of epic beers at their Little Italy taproom and the deal was done. The Trans Pacific Partnership was born.
So it is with great pride that we introduce our first transcontinental collaboration. The Pirate Life x Ballast Point Trans Pacific Partnership. A 6.0% American Strong Pale Ale liberally hopped with US, NZ and Australian hops and finished with Finger Limes and Coriander in the Whirlpool. To ensure that the tap decal stood out among our range we enlisted the help of our mate Steen Jones who came through with the goods: An epic scene of a tall ship sailing across the Pacific. We believe the beer, the artwork and the story behind it all reflect the unique style of Pirate Life and Ballast Point while celebrating the collaborative nature that helped the craft beer industry grow to become what it is today...
The TPP will be pouring nationally this weekend.
Cheers,
PLB Crew
