We need the Professor to chime in here.
Tried a Ballantine XXX clone a while back with no success. IIRC, East Coast Yeast has the original yeast.
You can be assured that I’ve been following this story quite closely. It sounds as though they are really trying to come up with a credible re-creatiion of this great old product and you can bet that I’ll be anxiously seeking it out in the coming week when it starts to show up here locally. I do indeed have a vivid recollection of the original product (including tasting notes dating back to the mid/late 1970s). Recreating as a homebrew it has been my own quest since the 80s.
From reports I’ve read, it looks like the current recipe is a lot more complicated than the original likely was, and that they are most probably foregoing the long aging that the original product had (and which is a pretty important aspect of the brew they are looking to resurrect, and of the IPA style in general) but it still has the potential for being maybe a bit better than a lot of the so-called IPAs that seem to get rushed out these days.
I’ll keep an open mind. Denny’s characterization of it as being “guardedly excited” is pretty much how I feel, knowing that that given some of the shortcuts being used they certainly won’t replicate the old classic exactly. But if they manage to come even close, they may have a winner on their hands. Even if it’s really good, they’ll need to overcome the almost guaranteed dissing by the brainwashed übersnobs who will dismiss it out of hand (probably without even bothering to taste it) just because a big corporation is behind it (ignoring the reality that some small avalanche of new breweries are releasing their own share of some less than stellar product these days).
We’ll see. I’ll post my (unbiased) impressions as soon as I get to try a few bottles.
Meantime, , here’s a link to a pretty good (and even encouraging) radio interview with the new product’s brewmaster:
Northeast Pa's News & Talk Station - WILK-AM | WILK Newsradio
I just noticed that there’s a punctuation typo on the new product’s label (there shouldn’t be an apostrophe where it says 70 IBUs!).
I guess Pabst wasn’t budgeted for a proofreader. 
From a homebrew standpoint, are the “clone” recipe in Mitch Steele’s IPA not very close? I have never tasted the original, but do remember my father drinking it so I could have the can in my collection. I have been planning on brewing up his No. 1 recipe, but if it’s not even good enough for a production brewery, should I bother? Who has tried the original and also attempted this clone? As I said, never had the original, so I’m just looking to brew a great recipe. If it’s not, please let me know
It is probably worth noting that Ballantine’s IPA was never released in cans. Your dad probably drank Ballantine XXX, which was also a very good and worthy brew in it’s day.
After the mid 1980s or so, not so much. :-[
Thanks for the heads up, it has been a while since I collected cans. Been out of my folks’ house since 1989 when I was 19 or so. Can collection was gone for a couple years by then. I hope he enjoyed the XXX as much as I’m interested in trying to clone one of their beers at the home brew level. Again, are the recipes that Steele published any good, or close to old school Ballantine?
I can post what I have done tomorrow night. It was based on a Jeff Renner recipe.
When I get home a keg will get pushed through a hop rocket full of Brewers Gold. It won’t be extract, but the vegative mater will not be in contact with the beer for long.
Just saw this post on Mitch Steele’s blog. His description of the prototype sample he got to try is extremely encouraging. It was supposedly coming out in September - has anyone come across it yet?
I’m looking forward to finding it when it comes out. Pretty interesting.
My wife called me to ask if I knew Ballantine made an IPA. I didn’t realize it was out already. She picked up a couple of bombers for us(and some Dirt Wolf). She rocks. I was excited to try it and it wasn’t a disappointment. I never had the original so I cant really compare it to anything but for me it was a refreshing break from the overhopped dozen of ipas you can find at any store now. It has a great balance of citrusy earthy goodness with a nice oak flavor. Both of us really enjoyed it. I wound up picking up a six pack the other night and I will definitely buy it again. Better on the warmer side than the colder. I’m looking forward to hearing some of the Ballantine IPA experts opinions on this one. If this is close to what the original was like, Ballantine was way ahead of their time.
Hey bringing this back to the future because I just found a 6 pack. Does anyone know how these bottles are date stamped? My 6 has (I think) 6/?/15 stamped on it. If that is a best by date I’ll truly wish I hadn’t spent $12 on it, but if that’s a born on date, I can live with it. First time I’ve seen it in my travels around SE Indiana, N KY, and SW Ohio. It was the only 6er left and it is warm so I guess my hopes are not too high. I let the clerk at the bottle shop know that I would be very interested if they were to get more in stock. Won’t likely be drinking this till the end of the month, will report back then
I normally assume that it is a bottling date unless it specifically says best buy.
I’m the same way Steve, I just know different breweries have different methods and was curious if anyone knew for sure
The date on the bottles of the current version of Bally IPA is indeed the packaging date.
Well that bodes well, my sixers is only 4 months old.
We are only getting cans of it. I really like it, but it is $10 a six so unless I find a coupon I typically spend the money on something else. Of course I do have another two six packs sitting around waiting to be consumed.
I sure wish they would ship to AZ… I’ve been working on a clone of this stuff for years… still can’t get The Professor to send me his recipe! 
I’m still working on mine. Getting closer I think. It would be nice to try the Pabst version.
I am reminded that I have unopened pounds of Cluster and Bullion in the freezer. I need to do this one soon.
My batch of Steele’s Ballantine is on the slate for the very near future