HeBrew Bittersweet Lennys R.I.P.A

Shmaltz Brewing Company
Brewed at Olde Saratoga Brewing (Mendocino Brewing Co.)
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
San Francisco, California USA

Pours copper with a big white head. Aroma is rye malt and a little brown sugar sweetness, with a touch of citrus hops. The malt is definitely more noticable on the aroma than the hopping. This beer has a very prominent rye flavor up front, which reminds me of rye crackers specifically, and finishes with citrus hops and warm alcohol burn. This is definitely very malty for an IPA, but I definitely don’t object to that in a rye based beer. My only complaint is that the alcohol hits a bit hard at the end, but overall it’s well masked for a 10% beer.

Pours red-copper with a thick head. hoppy aroma. Heavy malt with strong hop flavour. Bitter piney finish.

1 pt., 6 oz. -> Snifter. A tribute beer to Lenny Bruce, eh? Pours the color of watered-down, sold-your-soul Coca-Cola, with a nice cream head, which dissipates quick. The lacing is nice, making rings where I pause between drinks. Smells of rye, vinegar (appropriately enough), cranberries, citrus, and chocolate, in relative reducing strength. Not as hoppy smelling as I would expect from an IIPA. Flavor starts sweet with the malts, but rolls so smoothly to finish with a bit of a citrus-y bite on the top of the tongue and the back of the throat. Still not as hop-strong as I would expect from an IIPA. Maybe not the best example of a Rye malt IIPA (try Bear Republic’s Hop Rod Rye Ale as a good example), but certainly not a bad beer. Hell, I may have to side with Mr. Bruce on this one: "’Life’ is a four letter word." In deed, it is.

Great price to quality ratio. The 10% is masked by the great balance of hops and malts. Great piney finish.

22oz bottle. Dark red-orange with a lasting off-white head. Grapefruity and pungent, spicy hops fight with alcohol, and sweet caramel in the aroma. The flavor is malty and sweet with a light spicy rye touch and some caramel, balanced by a strong and lightly astringent bitterness. Hop flavor is a little fruity and pretty spicy, but is lost in the malt for the most part. Full bodied with nice, medium carbonation. A bit harsh up front, with apparent alcohol and astingency, but smooths out toward the end of the glass, perhaps due to the 10% abv. I’d definitely give it another go if offered, but not a beer I would buy again.

I drank this over the summer but forgot to rate it. I do remember really liking the balance between the rye and bitter hops. Overall has a great, big malt taste that supported by big hops. A fitting tribute to Lenny Bruce.

Bottle. Noticeably viscous when pouring. Beautiful, thick, creamy head. Goes down like heavy, liquid bread. Reminiscent of barley wines I’ve had. Quite hoppy. Too rich for me.

Mazzeltov! This poured crazy opaque amber with well sustained, thick tan suds. It smells overwhelmingly of hops, but also oranges and buttery toffee notes, alcohol and spicy rye. It’s got an incredibly malty backbone with dark caramel and toasty breadcrust bitterness, but the hops grab front stage. It’s got an incredibly full, complex hop character. At 10% abv take just a bit of time to savor the nice, slow burn. Afterall it’s a tribute brew. Delicious! This gets high marks all around.