Socorro Springs Pick Axe IPA
Socorro Springs Brewing Company

 

Enjoyed this tasty brew during a visit to the Socorro Springs Brewpub!

Appearance- Deep orange/copper in color with quickly fading eggshell white head. Some lacing.

Aroma- Nice piney/citrus hops, soft burnt sugar, and sweet caramel nose.

Flavor- Similar to aromas with bright piney/citrus hops up front. Middle brings out malt flavors of burnt sugar and caramel. Finishes with nice malt/hop balance and a lingering resinous dark caramel flavor. Moderate to high bitterness.

Mouthfeel- Moderate CO2, medium bodied, sessionable.

Overall- Nicely balanced american IPA with a lot of bright hops backed by a solid backbone of malt complexity. Nice kick of bitterness plays well with the lingering malty flavors.

Pours from the growler an amber tinged, rich copper color with only a wisp of a head. The aroma is a touch soapy, though predominantly of fruity, citrus and tropical fruit like notes. The hops seem perhaps a bit muted in the aroma compared to a vibrantly fresh IPA.

This has a nice punchy hop character to it in the flavor. Quite fruity up front but it gets significantly herbal with a nice bitterness to it in the finish. Hop-fruit flavors of lychee, peach, tangelo and candied grapefruit zest are offset in the finish by notes of chives, pine and a significant, somewhat astringent herbal note that lingers on the tongue along with a biting bitterness.

This is a nice IPA, perhaps a touch week in the aroma, but the flavor brings an interesting balance between the up front, expressive fruitiness and the sharp, biting hop notes in the finish.