HeBrew Bittersweet Lennys R.I.P.A

Shmaltz Brewing Company
Brewed at Olde Saratoga Brewing (Mendocino Brewing Co.)
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Brooklyn, New York USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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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.

Bottle: pours a beautiful smooth caramel color with a thick cream colored head that leaves a nice heavy lace. Grassy, citrusy aromas, maybe some herbal notes. Flavors are pine, bread, earthy. It’s got a lot going on. Mouthfeel is nice... It coats your mouth and leaves you a few minutes to appreciate this tasty beer. Good stuff!

Bottle. Pours golden brown with a high, fine-grained head. The nose is amazing -- smoke, citrus, maple, and herbal notes that I can smell all the way across the desk. On the front of the palate there’s some orangey sweetness -- and then the bitterness smacks you upside the head. Still very well balanced, though, with definite caramel notes on the close. Mouthfeel so rich it’s almost a barleywine. Wow.

Deep red/brown pour with tall offwhite head, an inch thick at least. Bitter hoppy piney scent. Nice. Thick mouth feel. Appropriate carbonation. Lots of malt flavor, a little less on hops but evident nonetheless. Alcohol content apparent on finish leaving mouth a bit dry.

Aroma is hops, pine, malts, and citrus. Pours a dark amber with a big white head and some lacing. Taste is hops, pine, and malts with a good alcohol warming aftertaste. Very good.

Strong beer, overbearing malts and even more hops! Lots of citrus and pine. Not horrible but I wouldn’t buy it again.

12oz bottle. Pours a dark amber with a creamy off white head and plenty of lacing throughout. One of the better rye beers out there and it definitely packs a wallop with that high abv.

This is a really, really good R.I.P.A.-- my favorite. For me, the downfall of many RIPAs is they just get too thick, too syrupy, when they add the rye bite to the existing hoppiness. This one avoids that issue altogether, and blows your hair back in the process. The flavor is so complex it is very hard to describe-- sweet with the sour, light with the heavy, delicate with the harsh. Great beer. My only beef is it’s so strong and so heavy that it does limit drinkability.

Pours a dark copper color from the bottle with a nice tan head and moderate lacing. Smell is intense, malty up front from the rye and a bit of piney hops. Taste is sweet on the front end, then bitter, with a clean, slightly alcoholic finish. Decently balanced, but the bitterness stays. Good, but a bit overwhelming.

On tap at The Common Table. Pours a dark reddish amber with a thin off white head. The aromas are musk, light citrus. The mouthfeel is dry, sticky and has a heavy body and good carbonation. Cheers!

Not much of a smell has a decent bitterness, the taste is not that complex and the after taste isn't that pleasant. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone