Santa Cruz Ale Works IPA

Brewed by Santa Cruz Ale Works
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Santa Cruz, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

This brew is a golden-orange color with a medium rocky off-white head that diminishes slowly. Sticky rings of lacing on the glass. Citrusy hops and caramel malt in the nose. Medium body with a moderately bitter hops character and flavors of grapefruit, malt and caramel. The finish is fruity with a short hoppy aftertaste. Decent overall.

A: The beer pours orange in color with a huge white head on it, far too much, in fact. S: Smells alright at first. Some good citrus notes up front, but other than that, the nose is pretty "meh". Fairly malty with lots of bready malts and some toasted notes as well. T: The flavor is similarly bready and mild to moderate in terms of the sweetness. Some citrus notes of grapefruit and oranges, and a decent amount of bitterness. M: Medium in body with a moderate carbonation. O: Unfortunately, this beer is just decent at best. Not really what you look for in a west coast IPA.

08-Jul-08 (22-oz bottle: Purchased 12-Jun-08 for $2.99 at BevMo in La Jolla, CA) Given that I didn’t like the Pale Ale because it was grossly out of balance, my expectations are pretty low going into this IPA. But in fact, the flavor of the two products is so similar that I briefly suspected a labeling problem. The only obvious difference between the two beers is the color; the slightly hazy body of the IPA is golden-yellow in color, whereas the Pale Ale is closer to amber. The head is very lively, rising to two inches in height, even with a semi-careful pour, and the frantic activity of swirling carbonation rising through the beer explains the heady pour. The nose is very hoppy, with elements of pine, grapefruit citrus rind, leafy weeds and phenolics, but malt aroma is very light. A similar lack of balance hurts the flavor too. The hops deliver pine and citrus-rind flavors and strong dandelion-like bitterness from start to finish, but the grainy, pale malts contribute no sweetness and always remain pretty far in the background. On the palate, the beer is very dry and crisp, medium in body and medium in carbonation. Head retention is solid, the foam holding a thin layer. Some patchy lacing sticks to the glass. Overall, the trend for this brewery seems to be overhopped, out of balance beers, so the IPA doesn’t really suit me either. If bitterness isn’t reduced, then the malt profile needs a significant boost. Also perplexing is the fact that this new brewery currently makes three beers and two are very similar in character. A little separation would seem to make more sense.

Bottle:   Dirty golden, fine sediment floats about, large rocky white head, decent lacing.   Sweet citrusy hop aroma.   Smells rather tasty.   Moderate hop bitterness on the tongue, a little powdered sugar sweetness, citrus peel tinge.   Not as hoppy or robust as I would have hoped.   Has this sweet sugary aspect to it that somewhat detracts.   Decent body and mouthfeel.   Seems like a robust Pale Ale.   Decent, but that artificial sweetness that lingers after wards makes me think this could use a little bit of tweaking.   Still enjoyed it, but rather have it have more floral sweetness than this artificial sweetness other this powdery sugar stuff.

Draft. An unclear dark golden beer. The aroma has ntoes of hops, grass, and grapefruit. The flavor is sweet with notes of malt, grass, and grapefruit, leading to a bitter finish. The hops leaves a light burn in the throat.

floral and citrus aroma. Pours a cloudy golden, yeast floaties, and monsterous foamy head. smooth, piney and some tangerine. Enjoyable IPA.

Santa Cruz Ale Works--I.P.A. India Pale Ale--2010 22 oz. Bottle. 6.50% ABV. 65 IBU’s? (3.5 / 5.0) Fizzy lacy big white mild lace head. Clear thin bright pretty light gold color. Sediment dusting hazes orange. CO2 enhanced aromatic mild floral hop front. Thin fizzy dry sweet light caramel pine citrus hop resin crisp tangy body. Aged citrus hop spice crisp end. Sampled 6/13/2010. 2 @ $2.95 Each. Bad Bottling.

musky hops, definite caramel and a little smoke. mix of flavors—lemon, grapefruit, fresh cut grass.. smooth in the mouth and pretty in the glass