View From The Road: Parkway Brewing’s Factory Girl Session IPA

Here’s another look at a beer in my “View From The Road” series, taking a look at a singular beer to seek out and enjoy, but nothing so rare that you have to refinance your house to buy any, or travel to the opposite coast to find it. Cheers!

While the inspiration for the name of Parkway Brewing’s newest beer “Factory Girl” may have been drawn from local journalist Beth Macy’s new book Factory Man, the image the name implies, perfectly reinforced by the Rosie the Riveter style artwork on the bottle, stands on its own as a no less than perfect description for the actual beer. Macy’s main character, as well as Rosie, are straightforward, got-a job-to-do kind of individuals, two traits you could certainly also use to describe Factory Girl. After all, any “session IPA” is built with leanness in mind, brewed to do one not so easy but basic job – satisfy the most die-hard fan of hop forward beers without saturating them on the alcohol content, so as to keep them upright for the next round. Factory Girl does as good of a job at this as just about any “session IPA” that I’ve had in recent memory, slinging a floral like and slightly citrusy aroma from its hip right from the first pour. The flavor comes at you with a bit more of the same, but is tilted more towards a melon like and slightly citrusy, slightly grassy tastes, all with a consistently solid bitterness running throughout.

Parkway Brewing’s Factory Girl “Session Style” IPA:

In a few notes which Brew Master Ryan Worthington was able to supply, the use of a couple of Australian hop varietals called Summer and Ella give the beer the its aroma and distinctive taste: …”[Factory Girl] has a nose that is dominated by hops. With this one you get apricot, tropical fruit, citrus and maybe a hint of grass. The flavor is all hops upfront with a light body and hoppy notes of tropical fruit” and then finishes “with a fading bitterness and slight malt/cereal note that is balanced toward the hops.” Apparently, Summer hops have a particular apricot, melon like quality that is fairly evident in the beer, and make it refreshingly interesting, but also sets it apart from the tastes of many other IPAs, while the Ella variety provides the bitterness as well as the floral quality so evident in the beer, especially in the aroma. As Worthington mentions, the beer fits right in with what you would expect and want from a Session style IPA, clocking in “at 4.5% abv and 55 ibu’s. [It’s] a seasonal beer that should appear yearly [so] get it while you can as it is a limited run. It [will be] available in kegs and 6 packs….”.

Ready for your days on the beach, your days by the pool, or whatever activity your summer might call for…Parkway Brewing Factory Girl. Cheers!