Snow Plow
Brick West Brewing Co.

an amber colored rye based ipa, pretty solid for the colder months, a little sweet from the richer crystal malts, but i can still smell and taste the earthy rye in here, a hearty and slightly old school recipe, but much less conservative to me than their pils, and the execution is there, especially for such a new brewery, these all were likely first or second batches of things, so good job right away. frothy lacy deep copper brew, rather clear, good carbonation evident. it smells balanced to me, less hoppy than is fashionable in ipa these days, especially without much of a dry hop profile to me, some malt sweetness, a hint of maple to it, light pine and almost cascade hop type spice, especially with the rye malt, very northwester, but a lot less bitter than most when i taste it, plenty of grain balance, but its not as sweet as it smells, the rye spice is there through the whole thing giving it needed depth, and with the relative simplicity of the hops, and them being kind of understated for the style, the complexity of the grain bill stands out. a different kind of hoppy beer for sure, but i appreciate the nuance and think it pretty well made. definitely a winter palate, as the name suggests, but good.