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

Wow. Really surprising. I’ve also considered the HeBrew beers to be a joke. An assumption made only because of the packaging. But this is a nice double IPA. Really strong tasting. Full. Nice malt. I’d buy this again.

From Fairway,redhook. Absolutely the supreme IPA. Carmelised hops,with the strenght of the xtreme IPAs--arrogant bastards et al, but without the medicinal aftertastes. Just really nice drinkable stuff.

Bomber split with ’Naka courtesy of Big ’Naka via Little ’Naka. Pours amber red with nice white head, 1/2 a finger, slightly foamy. Strong nose of rye bread and alcohol, a bit of hops, mainly floral. Rye and alcohol are predominate, with carmel following, and a great finish of hops. "It’s the proverbial ’party in my mouth and everyone’s invited’", said ’Naka. I couldn’t agree more. Fantastic beer. I want to drink more of it.

From www.bottletrek.com Pure copper pour with off-white head. Pine and carmalized sugar nose. Bold hoppy front, yet not to the point of over-the-top. Great balance between the malt and the hop. Medium to full mouth feel with a crisp hoppy finish.

Pours a deep, translucent copper with a large creamy/frothy off-white head that reduces to a thin cap, leaving delicate lacing behind. The aroma is literally intoxicating: caramel, cookies and candied pears soaked in dark rum with solid notes of rye and pine as well. Fairly full-bodied with tongue tingling carbonation and a nice bitter end with a squeeze at the back sides of the tongue. Bold round caramel malt with a dry/spicy rye backing and a bold, piny and resinous bitter hop finish. It’s fairly well balanced with a hop forward profile backed by just enough malt to keep your face from caving in. It may not be quite as good as Hop Rod Rye, but it’s pretty damn good and I can get it locally.

Bottle with Zinister. Pours a red wine amber with an aroma of bread and hops. Peachy bread and grapefruit greet the taste buds. Average mouthfeel. Not my idea of an IPA, but whatever.

Bottle into pint glass, purchased at Frugal MacDougals in Nashville. Pours thick, like a stout. The largish head lasts, is creamy, and dissipates rockily like a root beer float (but much thicker in consistency). A dense lace sheet is plastered on the glass after a few minutes. A biting piney hop smell pricks the nose, with an accent of more flowery hops and buttery malts. Thick in the mouth, it feels like a barley wine. The head stays on top in a layer (looks like melted ice cream) to add to the feel (kind of like in Guiness). This thing looks thick all the way, with deep slow sub-surface "racing" and an oily coating on the side of the glass. Lip smacking good, with earthy dry bitterness in the finish. Unfortunately, any hops flavor in the middle gets subsumed by the thickness of the beer and the copious unfermented sugars. Might be one to lay down for a bit, since there aren’t a lot of "fresh" hop qualities to it that might deteriorate.

Amber,large beige head.Sweet,fresh citrus hop nose.Big malt start, piney hops, long bitter hop finish. Complex and full bodied