Smuttynose Big A IPA

Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

22oz. bottle, 2004 vintage. Strongly fruity, citric aroma, plenty of juicy grapefruit and lemon along with a noticeably sweet, grainy malt backbone alongside some faint apple, spice and alcohol. Dark golden amber color, lightly hazy, with a creamy, lasting, uneven head. Well balanced flavor profile, a goodly amount of malty sweetness combined with plenty of hop bitterness and flavor, nicely citric and refreshing with a bit of acidity and a small amount of peppery alcohol at the finish.Creamy, smooth mouthfeel, nicely full bodied. This may actually be a touch on the old side (~1 yr.) but is still highly flavorful and lively.

Hey, a nice big hoppy nose on this one! Piney, resiny, candyish, almost new mown hay. Dirty and earthy too, a touch of barnyard? Puckering tannic and dry in the mouth. More slight barnyard and earth character. Dry bitter finish. Amber color, full head, hazy.

The nose reveals the hops, both citrus and floral, as one would expect from an imperial IPA, but only moderately so which one wouldn’t expect. Aroma of grapefruit, pine and flowers with notes of sweet orange. The flavor starts with floral, perfumy hops that gives way to bitter grapefruit riding atop sugared orange. A full body and moderate carbonation lead to a sticky, somewhat syrupy mouthfeel. The finish is long and very bitter with a nice warming from the alcohol. Overall, a tasty IIPA even though the various flavors seem a bit disconnected.

Hazey straw golden honey color with a big white cap of bubbly, crunchy froth. Nice lacing in sheets and keeps a solid skim on top the whole way through. Aroma is clean and nicely hoppy with a moderate showing of lemony citrus, pine, honey, and floral nuances. Taste is eagerly fulfilling with an easy going hop tone and semi sweet balance of caramel malt and honey. Hops are citrusy with a sweet candyish lemon-sided tilt, a smidgeon of well rounded orange, some pineyness, leafy, fresh, cleanly bittered, and long lasting in bite. Nicely balanced, clean, and perfectly bittered in piney sweet citrus. Feel is just above medium with a fluffyish, bold, hoppy carbonation that maintains a charged, ever-forward smoothness, cleannness, and well rounded bitterness in pine and citrus. Nice touches of floral hops and even a dash of mint and herbs make their way in as it begins to warm and unfold. A nice finisher and a fine drinker. But at 9% this isn’t as sessionable as I would like it to be. It catches up to ya pretty quickly as it empties. Still, goes down with amazing ease and a finely laced hop tone and sweet balance. Good stuff!

Brilliant color. Nice head. Strong nose. Wonderful taste. So smooth. Do you really need excessive words for this one?

Poured a cloudy amber with a small off-white head. Strong aroma of citrus and pine hops. Taste is dry citrus and pine, only the smallest bit of sweetness, with a mildly dry finish. Some great hop flavor here, not extremely balanced or deep. But clean, refreshing, hoppy. Nicely done and a great value for the price.

Poured the beer into two glasses.. one for myself and one for my father. Poured with some floaties - hopps or something. half way through I found myself doing the familiar slow-blink. strong stuff. This beer turned me on to IPA.

Surprisingly translucent pour, with a healthy, foamy head. The aroma is fresh hops through and through - the abundant grapefruit sourness is balanced with a candy sweetness. My taste buds are immediately stripped bare with the first sip. This has to be 100+ IBUs, which jam pack the brew with bitter orange peel - unfortunately leaving little room for the malt to shine through. The hops are fresh and juicy none-the-less - this is good stuff, but could be great with a little more balance.