Smuttynose Big A IPA

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

Amber colored body with a big bubbley head. Aroma is very flowery, somewhat perfume-like. Very well balanced flavor. Huge hops but not overpowering. Alcohol well-hidden. Smutty can brew some ipa’s!

The IPA pours golden brown with hints of sunkist orange and plenty of hops in the aroma. The hops heighten with the first taste of this smuttynose IPA. The Big A IPA is very different from this style of IPA. Big A is also a more traditional style of IPA than their irginal with a very bittery, hoppy taste that lingers in the after taste. That Smuttynose knows how to make a damn good IPA!

Hoppy nose, amber color, tall foamy head. Sweet malt base that is really not significant but supports the late arriving dirty hop bitter. Kindy one dimensional and not really balanced. I can appreciate the aggressive hoppy, but overall it just doesn’t all come together for me.

Vintage 2004: Big rocky "Adrian" shouting head on the amber colored beer. Sweet hoppy, grassy nose. Chalky dry and bitter taste which leads to a long nice aftertaste.

On cask at Blind Tiger. Possibly the best IPA Ive ever had. pours a cloudy orange with a HUGE rocky head, imensely complex floral aroma, not the biting bitter hop aroma that some imperial IPAs have, very aaromatic, like perfume. The flavor is also very well balanced, lots of hops but not overly bitter, the alcohol is well hidden in the complexity of the flavor. I truly enjoyed this one.

Interesting looking 22oz bomber with some old time boxer I have not heard of on the front of the label. This pours out a deep orange with a red tint to it that has an overflowing tall rocky white head of foam. The head collapses down to a mountain like landscape and leaves huge chunks of lace on the glass in doing so. This brew is picture perfect in every sense of the word. The nose is filled with floral and citric hoppy goodness and a touch of malty sweetness, a bit weaker than expected overall. Bitterness strikes first in front of the taste before being soothed by slightly sweet caramel malt. The after taste is bittersweet and a bit dry, overall this is a little more balanced than you would expect a DIPA to be but it’s a good overall flavor. The body is a little thinner than typical but the mouth is definitely creamy and goes down smoothly. Drinkability is good, as I could go through a few of these in a sitting. Good overall beer and a more balanced DIPA than you typical fare.

Thanks to Bert (Slob) for this one. Pours with a thick head resembling sea foam, and said head sticks around throughout-- just like sea foam. I suspect they may be hiding some of the ABV in this one, as it tastes much stronger than 7%. A very nice and enjoyable brew. Yummy!

(22 oz bottle, obtained in trade with Eyedrinkale, thanks Mike!) Big, malty and fruity nose for an IPA de-emphasizes the hops, and is a good lead-in for the flavor. Very flavorful, malty, woody, fruity and sweet, and nicely balanced by a fairly bitter hoppiness that really asserts itself in the finish. Fairly sharp alcohol presence for a beer that is only 7%, but its not unpleasant. Shows some decent viscosity, though it seems lighter on the palate than many Double IPAs. Light golden color, slightly hazy in appearance until the fine sediment makes its way out of the bottle on the final pour, and then the beer is fully cloudy. Off-white head pours to a decent size, and gradually fades to a thin sheen and small ring. But lacing is outstanding, with a fine, delicate pattern coating the entire glass.