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

So I bought this with a smirk, not expecting a whole lot. The pour was one of those annoying ones where you think it is all OK, nice medium sized head, turn around for half a second and find that you now have a floor covered in beer suds. After clean-up, aromas definitely hinted at a strong hops content... pine, grapefruit, caramel. Maybe a bit of rye comes through in the aroma, but it really comes into play in the taste, where it really changes the order of things... the rye malt is the bridge between the intial hops blast and the hops finish, and, in my opinion, does a better job of this than many of the IPA’s that rely on more normal malts, that give off a cloying sweetness. Really different, and really a nice change here.

Bottle pours a very clear deep redish copper with a large creamy light tan head. Lots of stong carmely malts and bitter hoppy notes. Flavor is about what I expected. Rich thick malt flavors and lots of bitterness. Late woody almost cardboardy aftertaste. Very thick heavy palette. Long lingering bitterness. Another 10% beer from HeBrew

Bottle. Pours a dark amber/brown with a thick light tan head. Aroma is quite malty with some citrus hops. Flavor of lots of malt/bread/cracker. Mostly bittersweet hops with some citrus and lemon zest. Also some iced tea. I didn’t get much rye though, sadly (because I love rye). This was more like an ASA to me because of the strong malt presence. Pretty tasty though, although the hops may have faded slightly from this one.

Nice and dark with amber tones. Big aroma, sweet and very hoppy. Taste is citurs and biscuity taste with a lot of juicy hops.

Bu au YeHa! 06. Ambré claire, peu de collet. Arome d’houblon très sucré, comme du scotch caramelisé. Goût fort de scotch, peu houblonneux.

Pours a glowing reddish orange with a thin off-white froth (poured again a bit cooler and had a big beige creamy foam instead). Sweet aroma of honey, rye, and lots of hops. Sweet and chewy malts, followed by grapefruit and finishing earthy bitter with some lasting rye. Full bodied, sugary mouthful, soft larger bubbled carbonation. The bitter aftertaste just stays forever and I love that pungent rye taste. The depth of flavors is awesome, but it may be a tad too sweet.

22 oz bottle. Pours a very attractive dark clear red with a medium beige head. Sharp piney aroma with some cherry fruitiness and wood. VERY tasty; starts off with notes of dark roasted caramel, spicy rye, general massive malty sweetness, oak and then a boatload of intense piney citrusy PacNW hops-very pungent, grapefruity and bitter. Hints of tropical fruit too - lingering bitter finish. Nice complexity between the malty sweetness, spicy rye and hops. Full, round and lush on the palate with fine-beaded carbonation. A thin layer of head sticks it out up until the end. I’d classify this as an American Strong Ale, actually it’s almost in Barleywine territory. Seek this out if you like complex, malty hop bombs. Great stuff.

Dark orange-brown color with thin head. Piney hop aroma. Flavor is a sweet maltiness with a bitterness that lingers through the finish. Not as aggressive as other DIPAs, but enjoyable throughout, and better looking than most.