Cigar City Improvisación (Oatmeal Rye India Brown Ale)

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

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

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UPDATED: AUG 21, 2009 Draft…This beer rocks!... Very dark ale with a huge, creamy, beige head that never fades. The aroma presents lots of roastiness and tons of spicy-hop and grain notes. Full-bodied and ultra creamy with medium carbonation. Burnt, chocolaty and bitter with a notation of unidentified berries. At 90 IBUs, it’s pretty well-balanced. Finishes bittersweet and a touch dry. Lots of rye and oats; a wonderful pairing. Most brewers wouldn’t attempt a 24% rye beer. Most would say you could never make it work. Wayne made it work big time. Another world class brew from Cigar City!

Pours murky dark amber with tons of sediment floating around and a tan head. The aroma brings the hops and the unique spicy rye notes all over the nose. The flavor of sweet resin malts begins and settles on the tongue, then bring the almost quarter percent rye malt flavors in to dominate the palate. The hops aren’t overbearing, but work well with the rye.

Very muddy brown/amber pour. The head never dissipated. Initially very sweet on the nose but evolved during the session. Nose became spicy with earthy/boozy undertones. A bit sticky on the tongue. The first sip was sweet like the nose but not overwhelming like the 110K. As it warmed it really started to show its potential. Boozy, Earthy and the spice came to be. A very good brew by CCB, probably not for everyone, I would drink again.

Tap at Rattly N Hum. This was the highlight of the CC tasting for me. Reddish brown with a bit of a head... half pint, hard to tell. Aroma of spicy grain and a huge citrus hop. Taste is strong grapefruit, caramel, rye, cedar plank. Fantastic.

Tap at rattle & hum. Very dark brown Nose malty, not much else. Some blueberry. Mouth cookie malt, chocolate, offensively smooth, touch of lactose at the end with the smoothness, oats. Pretty nice for the style. ---via BeerBuddy

25 oz bottle, pours a dark brown with moderate mocha color head. Copious lacing on glass. Aroma is sweet with notes of roastiness and butterscotch, some floral notes present. Taste is heavy spicy with good sweet/bitter in background. Full body, long sweet aftertaste. Hides high alcohol content well.

750mL bottle, pours a dark reddish brown with a small tan head. Aroma of rye, harsh citrus hops and darkly roasted malt - not much of the oatmeal. Nose is very much like a black IPA. Flavour also resembles a black IPA, with dark roasted malt upfront, and lots of harsh hops kicking in later, finishing off the mouthfeel, with no detection of ABV. Remarkably well-balanced and refined - easy drinking for what this is. Delicious.

Pours a cloudyish deep amber with a 1 finger tan head. Hop notes in the nose along with caramel. Obnoxious alcohol notes in the taste. Rough. No redeeming qualities about this beer.

Bottle. Deep amber/brown body with a frothy tan head, slowly diminishing. Aroma of raw, resinous hops, rye, caramel, peach. Hint of wood and herbs. The flavor is moderately sweet and lightly to moderately bitter. It finishes lightly sweet and moderately bitter, a bitterness that lasts long into the finish. Medium body, velvety texture, lively carbonation. Bitterness and rye twang dominate the beer, especially the longer you drink it. Early on, there are tastes of sweet caramel, citrus, orange which are overrun by bitterness and rye. Raw plant and earthy tastes accent the citrus and grapefruit. Interesting beer. Wish the malt flavors stuck around longer.

Brown with a thin head, aroma of hops and dark malts. Taste follows, really interesting and easy to drink, nice beer. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Black with good, creamy, tan head / Bright nose of pine, tobacco, and citrus / Medium body, some chewiness, tending towards malty with but lively carbonation and good hop balance, and long, dry and bitter finish / Big, earthy flavors of rye, chocolate, dark roast coffee, tobacco, oak, and plum / A great brown ale, especially for its fine body and big flavor profile. An odd beer in that the nose is radically different than the flavor.