Ballast Point Orange Vanilla Fathom Review

Name: Ballast Point Orange Vanilla Fathom
Style: India Pale Lager
ABV: 7%
IBUs: 70

It's been a quite some time since I had a Ballast Point beer. They make great beers but the prices at which they sell for don't quite justify making repeated purchases of. I know that people are buying it, which is why they have something new almost every week on store shelves but let's get real here; $15 6-packs shouldn't be a thing.

So what makes Orange Vanilla Fathom beer special, aside from the addition of orange and vanilla? Well for starters, it's an IPL, which is a style I am always willing to have more of, but also the price point. Usually I see Ballast Point bombers going for $9-10 but I only paid around $5.50 for this. Now I haven't had the original Fathom at the time of writing this, so if I see it, I'll try and review it.

Appearance - Fairly clear amber/orange color with a moderate amount of visible carbonation. The head has a good amount of volume to it and the the lacing left behind is quite plentiful.

Aroma - Getting some pale malts mixed in with some some piney & citrus hops. I'm also getting some lager yeasts and light vanilla & orange notes.

Taste - Pale malts with some citrus and bitter hops upfront with some lager yeasts in the middle. The back end of the palate has more of that bitter hoppiness with the addition of vanilla and orange, which show up right at the very end. The aftertaste consists mainly of light orange sweetness and bitter hoppiness.

I would've liked the vanilla and orange aspects of the flavor to be a little more pronounced but as it stands, this is a pretty good beer and the asking price is also very reasonable; Even by Ballast Point standards. If you so happen to see this, give this one a try.

Ballast Point Orange Vanilla Fathom - 8/10