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

Bottle. Deep maroon brown color. No head. Clear. Caramel, toffee, malty. Noticeable hops. Rich in flavor and aroma, bitter rye aftertaste lingers long. Warm alcohol numbness. 2 part flavoring with confusing dissonance on tongue and nose.

Enjoyed via draft in a pub glass. The beer pours a medium brown. Aromas of citrusy hops are almost immediately detectable, even if the sample is some distance away. The varieties used seemed to be very distinctive, with Simcoe especially showing itself. On the palate, the bitterness shows itself to be extremely smooth and refined. It is followed up by a very pleasant back-end sweetness that is partially malty and partially derived from the rye. The finish is medium to a touch sweet, but nicely so, adding a fullness to the palate. Overall, an excellent DIPA.

This beer is freakin’ wicked! My first IIPA with rye. Looks absolutely nothing like I thought it would - a very dark burnt orange /brown with some red hints, small tan cap with tons of silty slow moving random lacing. I can smell it from over a foot away. Thick very thick! Tons of hops with a mild grapefruit being the most prominent but in no way overpowering. Interesting caramel and rye mix with some biscuit malts in the background. There is also sweet raisins and a slight spice too. Totally complex aroma. I’m gonna be trashed when I’m done this bottle. Taste is ...oh god! My cat just farted!!! Wow. I gotta start feeding him strawberries or something... Taste is quite strong with a caramel and spice split assaulting my mouth first. There’s tons of hops but they are suprisingly mixed well with the rye and malts. With all these hops and potent malts I detect no alcohol whatsoever. 10%!!! This is my new mass consumption beer. Not sure if I detect a hard spice or if that is the hops annihilating my taste buds. Mouthfeel is truly awsome. Full bodied with a great soft carbonated feel. It does venture near a syrupy feel but doesn’t quite make it. Oh oh. The alcohol just found my brain. Oh christ I just nose burped and now my eyes are on fire. The hops are slowly disintegrating my tongue. When this warms it gets really creamy. Finishes strong with a huge malt and hop aftertaste which is then pounded by an almost burning peppery hop attack that totally cleanses your mouth leaving a lingering heavy bitter feel. This is an incredible beer. Crushes the Rogue IIPA. But the West coast USA has struck again with another outlandish brew that pushes the limits of normality.

Pours a coppery red with a thin white head. Aroma is earthy hops, some citrus, and malt. Taste is earthy hops up front, which mellow out into the rye malt. I can actually taste rye in this beer, which is not always the case with ryes. The hops kick back in on the aftertaste and linger for a bit. Definitely a different take on a IIPA, and very enjoyable.

Clear dark copper pour, moderate beige head with moderate retention. Oddly sweet aroma presents plenty of orange, vanilla, pine and cedar. Flavour is creeping hops, starts out with some malt and yeast sweetness then gradually develops a whole whack of spicy hop character that lingers through a very long, warm, boozy finish. Hugely rich and creamy mouthfeel, balanced carbo, really quite an impressive, hard-hitting beer. Not for the faint of heart.

Beer poured with a massive 5” cap that was a tan in color, body was dark brown to a ruby red when held up to the light, the retention of this cap lasted for hours, it’s so thick and creamy also its shaped like a nipple, this beer looks almost perfect. Aroma unsurprisingly was dominated by hops but they didn’t overpower you they were just there, the hops was at the front but a very rich dark malt presence was rounding out the aroma, there are some noticeable spice notes but nothing to aggressive. The first thing I noticed when I took a sip was how sweet this brew was but it’s not sickly sweet, the bitter hops are melting my face off in a good way, and the addition of rye to this beer is making this stand out as the best IIPA I’ve ever had to date. The bitter hops is being well balanced by a sweet malt character, the beer feels so soft, full and creamy in my mouth, so very good. Dam the 10% alcohol can’t be detected one bit, I could get trashed off this beer and not even notice. This beer is dam good I’m so very impressed a billion times bitter then I was expecting, this is worth the horrible price I paid for it and I will pay it again for another. How ironic I reviewed a beer that is blessed by a rabbi making it cossure and I did it while watching Borat."

Clear golden with tiny white head. Sweet and fruity aroma with discrete hoppy an citric notes. Flavour like wise. Finished biter.

One of the biggest beers you’ll ever have the pleasure of drinking. There is so much flavour that your tastbuds won’t reall know where to begin! The bottle is defo one to share with another beerhound. don’t try this at home kids this is one for the adults!