Sonoran Victorian IPA

Brewed by Sonoran Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Phoenix, Arizona USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

Bomber pours copper with gold hues and off white head. The modest aroma offers up buttery notes as well as spicy hops and vague bitter hoppy notes. The taste is similar with bitter spicy hops and some grapefruit like citrus hops mixing with buttery notes and a bit of caramel malts. The bitter hops and sweet butteriness don’t go too well together.

22oz bomber from Dcshiller. Murky orange-brown, nice big off-white head. Some toasty melon in the aroma, orange. An odd West Coast meets English IPA, certainly very fruity, tropical. Some odd almost lemon-lime tones in the background. Almost seems like there are off flavors that have been covered up with hops. I liked it at first, but by the end of the glass I was pretty unimpressed. Unique, but not so impressive.

Bomber. Pours to a deep rusty amber body with an extremely tall foamy thick creamy beige colored head. The aroma is heavy on the pine, grapefruit, and oranges with an herbal soap. The flavor is minerally and lightly bitter with oranges and subtle spruce needles. The palate is medium bodied and substantially textured. Mostly clean finish.

Bottle. Standard and fairly boring IPA. Citrus peel, resin light honey malty flavors. Not bad, not great.

Sonoran’s Victorian Indian Pale Ale is a fairly nice English-style IPA all around. Right off the bat, we have an excellent soapy froth of a head, easily making 2 inches, or about 4-fingers thick. The beautiful pillar of foamy goodness rested atop a clear, dark amber-orange with raspberry highlights, and as it slowly (very slowly - I believe they call this "solid retention") disintegrated, it left behind lines of thick spotty lacing. --- No sooner had I poured the brew, crushed pine needles - very christmasy - erupted from the glass. It was a very natural pine smell, not like an air freshener or cleaning agent, but still a very strong natural pine. Along with the pine, there were light hints of fruit, maybe strawberries and pears, floral hops, and lying just below everything...ruby red grapefruit. --- Sipping on it, I was surprised to encounter a thicker mouthfeel than I expected, but this was due in large part to the medium body accompanied by a hearty, spicy carbonation. There was an immediate sourness that peaked on the roof of my mouth every time I swallowed. I also pulled out some very light caramel malts, both resiny hops and zesty, floral hops, pine, ruby red grapefruit (more like the juice than the actual fruit, if you know what I mean), and the ever-present prickly carbonation. There wasn’t really a noticeable aftertaste despite the sour/bitter overtones, and it did end more on the dry side.

Bottle… Hazy, deeply golden ale with a ridiculously huge, fluffy white head. Great retention. Definitely too much head for there not to be some kind of infection here. Aromatic standouts are tea biscuit, toffee and herbal, earthy, floral hops with a whisper of pine. Medium-bodied with brisk carbonation. Nicely balanced Ipa with loads of flavorful malts and hops. There is a mild acidic component from infection, but not very deep or unpleasant. Actually makes the beer a little more interesting although it’s a touch over-attenuated as a result, but not unpleasantly so. Crisp, lightly tart, mildly bitter, refreshing finish.

Thanks Jazzcrop for this tasty treat. Loved the chunky head on the deep amber pour. Big malts on the nose. Taste was malt dominated, big caramel, kettle korn that carried through the finish. Mouthfeel was solid to the last drop, nothing to overpowering, just a smooth malty brew, very drinkable, could put a few down easily. Good stuff, love the representation of the style.

Bottle from a trade with cbkschubert. Pours hazy orangish color with off white head. Citrusy aroma. Lemon and other citrusy flavors with some caramel and iced tea. Medium body with average carbonation. Thanks Craig.