Cigar City Improv Imperial Dark Rye Ale

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: American Strong Ale
Tampa, Florida USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Pours a hazy brownish amber with a medium creamy off white head. Aroma of great floral and orangey hop notes, chocolate, rye and oats. Flavor of chocolate, oats, caramel, pine, citrus and toffee.

On draft @ Oldsmar Tap House. Pours a ruddy brown color with a thick, tight off-white head. Nice sharp piney hop aroma with dark roasted malt notes that are well balanced with the hops. The palate has the creaminess that makes me loves rye beers. The taste starts with a resinous kick but backs away for a grainy tobacco-like flavor. This one stood out at the launch party.

Bottle from JdubFL - thanks! Nice darker brown with a killer Rye/chocolate/hop aroma. Flavor is rye and hop dominant, but the roasty and sweets balance this nicely. Very pleasant mouthfeel. Best rye-based brew I’ve had in awhile.

Draft @ OTH, CCB launch party. This is my jam. Can’t wait for bottles of this. Pours a dark brown, tan head, fuzzy with some lacing. Resiny pine hops, a touch smokey, lots of spicy rye backed up with caramel, chocolate malt complexity. Smooth, creamy lush in the mouth, a nice hop bitterness in the finish. All the elements work together so well, a beguiling complexity.

UPDATED: AUG 27, 2009 750 mL. Wow this is awesome! Pours a deep, clear ruby with a beautiful, two-finger Bolita-style bright tan head that has excellent retention and leaves incredible lacing. Aroma is- what- that of a DIPA: tons of grapefruit hops, honey, caramel, slight roastiness and mocha. Taste is effervescent and bubbly upfront with a big wallop of grapefruit hops and pine resin followed by rye malt, roasted nuts, bitter chocolate, fresh Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. Creamy palate. This could be the fresh dark DIPA. Awesome!

Bottle thanks to Bigmmartin. Pours a warm brown with thin head. Aroma is hops with a solid malt backbone. Notes of oats, brown sugar, and a tiny bit of rye stand out. On the palate, it is a bit chewy, but still smooth. The flavor brings the oats forward some and it finishes with a bitter bite. Wow, what a great beer. I was really impressed with this one.

Really nice one. Spicy on every note from start to finish. There is a spark of sharp flavors like caraway and pine and earthy chili that carries this beer throughout. The hop bite at the finish is an outstanding exclamation point put on this intriguing statement of emancipated grains. The rye gives a kick and the oats round out the whole deal. I saved the aroma for the end because it’s the star here for sure. There is a sexiness in the aroma that pulls you in with a pronounced herbaceous, spicy, seedy grain front and a subtle smokiness. Really unique and interesting. Thank You Cigar City. 2010 750ml.

750ml bottle my brother brought back with him from Tampa, thanks Jeff! Pours a deep and dark brown colored body with a big, three finger-width, dense and foamy, tannish brown head that dissipates slowly and leaves lots of lacing throughout. Aroma is really nice and quite unique. Sweeter caramels and cocoa with a slight roast and a hint of grain to the malts. Lots of citrus and pines with a few floral fruits. There is a light rye spice behind the hops that gives off a bit of a sour yeastiness. Malts really come out nicely as this warms more. Flavor is similar. Lots of piney citruses with a light rye spice up front before a deeper caramel sweetness comes in. Smooth cocoa mellows this out a bit in the middle along with a toasted nuttiness. Florals, roast, and a hint of dry wood comes in before smooth and soft malts as well as an increasing piney, resiny hoppiness make the finish very dry with a medium-high bitterness. Really nice blend of roast, rye spice, piney citrus, caramel, and cocoa in a lengthy aftertaste following a creamy, medium body and very soft, smooth, creamy, medium-high carbonation that works well with this. Overall, a damn impressive, complex beer. A higher hopping with a distinct roast that’s balanced wonderfully with a very smooth, deeper caramel and cocoa malt flavor. Thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Pours an opaque chocolate brown color with a thick tan head...great retention and lacing. Aroma has a slight sweetness...chocolate and burnt toffee...with nuttiness and a distinct oatmeal to it...earthy hops too. Flavor is roasty and nutty with a hint of chocolate but not sweet...also oatmeal and rye present with spicy earthy hops. Mouthfeel is creamy and lively with a roasty earthy finish. Nice brew.

Bottle thanks to Rciesla. Brown red pour with some tan head. Flavor is sweet, chocolate and oaky, and also hopped up, citrusy, and oatmeal and rye add subtle changes. Nice brew.