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

22oz bomber. Pours a deep orange copper color with a slight off white head. Aroma is hop based with the citrus, spice, and pine,although the rye sticks out from the backgroud and is pleasent on the nose. Likewise on the tongue. The hops are up front checked by a sweet malt, with the rye breaking through in the after taste. Full body, syrupy texture, dry feel, and a little soft on the carb. Very interesting and balanced beer. High quality IIPA that is a little different. I would certainly drink this beer again and recomend to others.

Bomber. Deep amber with an offwhite head that quickly fades to a ring. Aroma of citrus hops, caramel malts, a touch of spicy rye. Overall a very malty spicy ipa, not too much bitterness. Lots of caramel.

Pours a caramel, amber color with a light beige head. Smell is malty and slighty rye like with some light spiciness. Taste is dark rye, zestiness, hoppy and with a light malt flavor in the background. Flavorful and moderately bittered, and pretty enjoyable. Not a bad brew at all.

Bottle from BevMo in Fairfield, CA. Poured a dark carmel color. The smell of hops jumped of this beer. What makes this beer so good is the malty backbone the controls the hop flavor. WOW!!

Bottle from BevMo in Fairfield, CA. For a DIPA, this one is very unique, as the maltiness is more pronounced for the genre. It’s definitely full of malt and hops, providing a taste and fullness that is unmatched for a DIPA.

A very unique and incredible brew. A perfect balance of malt and hops--almost like a Scottish ale. Pours a red-copper color with a nice frothy head. Flavors are very good with hints of fruit, caramel, and spice.

This is one big beer. Reddish/copper color, an off-white head with some retention and spotty lacing. The aroma is a very good intro to what you’re going to get: fruity, lots of hops and a touch of the rye malt. The first few sips it seemed to start with rye malts as well as some caramel, a bit sugary and sweet, followed by a blast of very bitter hops with a sour grapefruit presence. Malts showed late in the finish as well although the grapefruit hops constantly linger a long time, well into the aftertaste. Rich, full and a little sticky. Halfway through the bomber, as the alcohol started going to my head and my palate shredded it was just one huge bitter/rye/hoppy/sour complex taste. I don’t necessarily think it’s high on the drinkability scale due to it’s sharp bitter flavor but I thought it was wonderful.

22 ounce bottle. It makes back pain diminish, if only temporarily. Mazel tov to Shmaltz Brewing for a wonderful rye-based double IPA. The snifter was filled with a thick, hazy, deep orange body that really tended toward brown. It was translucent at the edges, but just barely. The head that capped it was an inch or so of ivory foam. The lacing was excellent, with sheets left on the back of the glass and intricate patterns on the front. The nose was heavy of orange and citrus, of caramel and brown sugar. There was even, perhaps, a hint of cognac or whisky, probably fueled in part by the high alcohol content (10%). The flavor was complex and definitely packed a punch. It lead with caramel and malts, mellowed slightly with a flourish of grain, and finished with the bitterness of orange and a lighter caramel than that of the beginning. The orange stayed around as the finish lingered. This ale sat heavy on the tongue. It lit up the entire mouth and the upper throat. This is some spectacular stuff