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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Purchased from the Brewery January 2011; Sampled 11 days later
A solid pour into my Lost Abbey Teku glass produces a three-finger thick, nicely browned, dark tan colored head. As the head subsides it leaves a nice amount of lacing on the sides of my glass, though it doesn’t have the dense, staying power that would make it perfect, but near perfect is pretty damn good. The beer is a very dark, concentrated, amber-brown color that shows a bright, brilliantly hued (though not perfectly clear), rich ruby color when held up directly to the light. The beer smells thick with fruity, then resinous hops that are backed by supporting notes of caramelized malt and toasted whole grain. Super tropical fruit hop character of lychee, kumquat zest, sweetened hibiscus, amplified ruby red grapefruit juice (think Ocean Spray brand), honey drenched orange blossoms and super ripe tangelo that has been freshly juiced with the zest added are all quite noticeable. This is backed, distantly, by some supporting resionous notes that contribute hints of pine, maybe a suggestion of menthol and even a hint of herbal “hemp” oil. I wasn’t expecting the nose of this beer to be so incredibly dominated by fruit leaning hop notes, but I really am enjoying it quite a bit. You wouldn’t ever guess how dark this beer is from the nose unless you really, really dig around in it; after you do there is a touch of nuttiness as well as some spicy, toasted whole grain notes that peek through just a touch.

Fairly thick, and definitely viscous as it hits my tongue; you can feel the density of this thing as it clings to the palate after my first sip. A bitter, herbal and pine-like hop character does a good job of cutting through the viscosity in the lingering finish and helps to clear the palate up in anticipation of another sip. This has quite a bit of sweetness to it that accentuates and is accentuated by an aggressive, loud, fruity hop character that is dense with notes of candied kumquats, lychee syrup, Curacao orange zest, ruby red grapefruit, . The malt character from the brown ale does still play a secondary role to the hop flavors, but it is a lot more noticeable than it was in the nose; flavors of roast leaning coffee intermingle with and linger on the palate like the pine and bitter notes towards the finish (and in fact accentuates the bitterness a bit), there is a definite nutty note to this brew, and a really nicely spicy, almost rye-like (wait, I just checked and this does actually have rye in it, so I wasn’t imagining it), dark grain character to it. Interestingly enough, after only a bit of time, the body of this beer seems significantly reduced; it still has some heft to it, but it is now not nearly as viscous and the density of this seems much reduced; this now seems to fit into the quaffability region of something like a Double IPA (even if it is still on the high end for that, at least for me (in that I prefer lighter bodied versions).

Both the touch of roast and to a lesser degree the spicy grain character accentuate the sharper, not quite harsh, herbal and bitter hop notes that dominate this beer; it is not enough to really detract from the beer, but it keeps this from being wonderfully integrated. I have yet to really find a dark malt leaning, super hoppy beer that doesn’t do this and it has honestly made me think that if you want a really hop focused beer you should not add any dark / roasted leaning grain notes to it. Having said that, this beer definitely is quite tasty, definitely enjoyable and something I would happily drink again; it is just that the hop character would be so much brighter, smoother and well integrated without the roast grain notes (though I wouldn’t mind seeing the spicy rye component staying on). In the end this is a fantastic beer that I can’t quite help thinking is a bit Bi-polar in character.

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.