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Smuttynose Big A IPA

Smuttynose Big A IPA - Imperial/Double IPA

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 Percentile 
98
overall
Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA

Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

bottled
common

on tap
available

Regional Distribution
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 Ratings  Average  Score  ABV  Style Pctl  Serve in 
5073.86/5.03.85/5.09.2%90.3Snifter, Tulip
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Commercial Description:
For our hopping regime we went with Cascade and Nuggets in the boiling addition. Centennials were added every 5 minutes for the last 30 minutes of the boil. We added Crystals into the whirlpool. Dry hopping was done in both the fermentor after primary fermentation and the bright tank. We used a mixture of Chinook, Nuggets, and Sterlings in the fermentors and whole leaf Centennials in the bright tank.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 jimmack (1221), Nutley, New Jersey, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/58/104/516/20
Oct 1, 2004  
Hazy amber with good size white head. Strong hop aroma with a touch of citrus. Mostly hop flavor with hints of malt, citrus and pine.


 Hugerat (432), somerville, Massachusetts, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/105/516/20
Sep 21, 2004  
Aroma is all hops. Rich mouthfeel with plenty of sweet malt flavors. Smuttynose does a good job of getting both citrus and pine flavors out of the hops in this one.


 5000 (2409), Hardened Liver, Washington, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/516/20
Sep 17, 2004  
Bottle pours a fairly hazy amber with grapefruit highlights, small frothy off-white head, good carbonation, with so-so lacing.   Hops, caramel, and sweetened grapefruit on the nose.   Hop bitterness, slight pine, definite citrus flair, with strong notes of grapefruit on the tongue.   Good body and mouthfeel.   Finishes with floral notes and that mouth puckering hop bitterness.   This is fairly tasty!   Thanks goes out to slob for the trade!


 Pigfoot (2226), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/105/58/105/518/20
Sep 14, 2004  
Rich, golden color, nearing on peach, slightly hazy, with an attractive , frothy head, milk white, lace leaving. Vibrant aroma, showing pine, and citrus notes, a little bitter, but, terribly inviting. Mmmmm! Big, bristling hop dance...a tongue delighter for sure...yaaahh! This just floods the whole mouth with full-on hoppitude, no holds barred! Nice, candyish, sweet flavor meets bitterness, plus an adequate malt backbone, bready and, well, damn, the hops dominate and never quite quit! This is a hophead’s dream, just spills all over the palate and makes the mouth a buzzing playground of hoppitude. Damn, this is pretty right on! Just the stuff I like!


 crazyvin (1246), New York, USA
4.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/105/510/105/520/20
Sep 11, 2004  
Wow! This beer was near perfect, pouring a hazy orange color. A frothy head which was ever so slightly off white almost a very pale yelllow. Aroma was really sweet with hop notes and some pine notes. Taste was really smooth although mostly hoppy, the inital taste had some sweet notes to it, not to sweet but just enough to take from the extreme hoppy edge


 willblake (2160), Belcamp, Maryland, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/105/59/104/516/20
Sep 8, 2004  
09.07.04 22oz bomber. Hazed, orange-amber pour with glowing highlights. Massive yellowish white head. Ridiculous lacing. Aromas are big, thick, sweet, and inviting - cotton candy, grapefruit pith, pine forest. Very complex nose for an IIPA. Active eff that dances around the brew with each sip, each hoist of the glass. Palate is thick, coating, and sugary/malty - but the balancing hoppiness is sharp and dry; the relatively tame alchohol does more than you could ask presenting itself on the palate and incorporating in the flavors. Hops dominate the tongue. This beer reminds me more and more of grapefruit juice each time I try it. The malts seem to be in place almost solely in effort to counter and balance the hoppiness. Truly, this is an outstanding beer. So good that I have bought two cases of the stuff, the type of purchase I’ve made only once before.


 bu11zeye (5430), Frisco, Texas, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/57/103/515/20
Sep 7, 2004  
(Bottle) Pours a clear amber with a thick, foamy, off-white head. Aroma of grapefruit, florals, sweet malt, and alcohol. Flavor of hops, caramel, and alcohol. Would have guessed this one had more alcohol than 7%.


 1more4dessert (231), Upstate, New York, USA
4.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/105/58/105/517/20
Sep 1, 2004  
Rerate- wow. I felt compelled based on the over the top comparison to DFH 90 just below, to rerate. Nice floral impact on opening which is always a plus for me in IPAs. Orange with floaties and with a head that never gives up the ghost. Now it is not quite DFH90 with 2% ledd EtOH and a tad less malt body but damn it comes close. Extremely fresh. I have been consistently impressed by this brewers big beers, no hints of off flavores, staleness or Pasteurization. They should be mentioned right along with Victory (more styles done consistently well) and DFH (very adventurous and sometimes spectacular) as the best the mideast/northeast has to offer. it has a higher sp. gravity than I like in my ipas. It is a big IPA akin to 3F Dreadnaught. The hops are there but it is sweet. This one is better on the cold side.



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