Smuttynose Big A IPA

Pours a golden amber color. Aromas of floral hops, some sweetness, and a touch of fruit. Flavors of hops, pine and citrus. Light body with a bittersweet finish and long aftertaste.

Pours a hazy copper color. This this has a sinus clearing hop aroma. The thin flavor just doesnt match that big aroma though. Weird medicinal aftertaste.

Bottle drank at a baby shower with Rayboy... don’t ask me what he was doing there because I think it has something to do with stalking my wife. Grapefruit, pine, and other citrus notes all balanced nicely by caramel malts. A solid effort.

Wow, impressive. Slightly cloudy light-apricot colour a small creamy head, a beautifully floral nose, with citrussy hints and some alcohol upon warming. Taste profile is very bitter -- it hits you right on the back of the tongue. Also sublime hints of espresso, honey, and caramel malts bolstering the surprising bitterness albeit in a subtle way. Smooth, creamy and heavy body, leaves a good deal of residue, almost Eisbock-like.

From a 22 oz. brown bomber bottle with a "Bottled Condition in 2005" on the front label and a short blurb about the D/IPA on the side of front label. Made a good appearance, poured a hazy golden hued amber with a fluffy, foamy, bubbly topped white head that slowly reduced to a sticky, thin, bubbly lacing, good carbonation. Had a piney, earthy hop nose with a fruity maltiness and whiffs of sweet alcohol. A smoothly bitter, coarse medium bodied mouth feel, good drinkability. Piney, earthy and buttery taste upfront, then a raw earthy, cedary hop bitterness that overwhelms the butteriness, a buried honey malty sweetness, a slightly burning alcohol presence in the palate and a oily hop bitter finish. A good Double IPA from Smuttynose, well worth seeking out and trying. Acquired in a trade with fellow BR Jah Noth, many thanks!!

Another Smutty Big Bomber. Bottle conditioned in 2005. A tale of two beers. It was the best of brews, it was the worst of brews ... ahem ... This one really is like two different beers in one bottle. The first glass is clear and copper with an overactive head. The aroma is mostly sweet with a little bit of a malt presence. There’s a tingle on the tongue from the alcohol and from the hops, but it’s mostly sweet in the mouth (caramel and honey). Not at all like an I2PA. Very mild, very sweet, and a little simple. The second glass ... whoa. Maybe it’s the yeast at the bottom of the bottle, but, damn, it really takes off. Very piney and grassy. The astringency takes off (but doesn’t dominate). There’s some light, citrus fruit in there too. Very bitter, only slightly sweet. No doubt about it, that second glass is an I2PA. I’m not quite sure what to make of it, except the 2nd half is much better.

Bottle (650ml). Shared with blankboy, his bottle. Poured very bubbly, slightly hazy gold with a large lasting foamy-fizzy off-white head. Nice strong aroma of citrus and tropical fruit hops, sweet malt and a bit of yeast - I like the fresh pineapple character - fairly sweet - almost honeyed grain - for a big-hopped beer. The taste is less sweet and the hops are as much resiny as fruity, definite hop and alcohol bitterness in the flavour and strong grapefruit in the longish linger, the alcohol dominates the finish a bit more than I’d like, but the malt manfully attempts to keep up all the way to the ... ahem, bitter end. Mouthfeel is astringent, sticky, solid bodied and nicely carbonated - a very good IIPA, it’s no Dreadnaught, but solid.

Big bottle. An aesthetically pleasing unfiltered cloudy amber pour with a soapy head. The aroma is strong citrus and sappy. The flavour starts out ok but by the time you’ve swallowed the first taste the bitterness becomes oppressive and just builds and builds with each sip. Unfortunately the finish overwhelms the complexity of the malt and aromatic hops. The bittering is out of balance with the rest of the brew which is unfortunate as the initial impression of the beer was quite nice.