Smuttynose Big A IPA

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

An unclear red-orange beer with a lazing orange head. The aroma is light malty and light hoppy. THe flavor is sweet malty with notes of oranges and peaches, and a slight hoppy bite, leading to a very bitter and dry finish. The alcohol burns the mouth slightly.

(Bottle 65 cl) Very unclear amber golden with an off-white head. Aroma of caramel and a lightly citrusy aroma hopping. Medium body with sweetish, malty notes and a distinct, bitter finish. 061006

Bottled. Pale amber, rich head. Lovely intense roma of grapefruit and lychee. Sweet with soft mouthfeel but clean flavour profile and an excess of sugar and syrup. Plenty of hops, but along with the pepperyalcohol it turns almost inky, and the finish is extremely bitter. Promising aroma, but severely out of balance - I want more malt, less sweetness and certainly less ink.

Bottle. Hazy orange coloured with a beige head. Aroma of malts, fruits, hops and pine needles. Flavour of malts, fruits, hops and pine needles.

Date: November 28, 2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting
Appearance: hazy dark yellow, whispy head
Aroma: light sweet piney aroma
Flavor: big bitter malt flavor, bit of piney sweetness, long bitter finish

Date: January 21, 2006
Mode: bottle
Score: ii to iii
Appearance: hazy dark yellow, whispy head with thin lace
Aroma: big sweet grapefruit aroma, a sweet pine character in the aroma starts off faint and grows stronger and sweeter as it warms
Body: body thinkens as it warms into a robust beer
Flavor: big sweet malt flavor with lots of sappy pine and plenty of carmel sweetness to balance, long bitter finish

Name: Bigger A IPA
Date: February 10, 2007
Mode: Firkin
Source: Brewfest, Extreme Beer
Appearance: a dry hopped firkin of the Big A, opaque yellow, fine with head with frothy edges, nice lace from a dirty glass
Aroma: huge fresh grassy citrus aroma
Body: big body holds everything together
Flavor: wave after wave of hop flavor, sweet citrus, perfect balance, lasting bitter finish comes in to provide nice closure

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 17/20
Rating: 4.1/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***+ /4

Date: November 20, 2009
Mode: draft
Source: brick store
can you even get tired of the big grapefruit and pine IPAs? I think not

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *** /4

Date: June 07, 2007
Mode: bottle
Vintage: 2005
huge sweet pine and caramel from start to finish, a bit of wet cardboard, hops are barely hanging in there

2003: This version is light bronze; with citrusy notes, lemon, toasted wood and bread. Very hoppy, toasty malts, grapefruity. What in its first incarnation was a unique and stylish beer is now a dime-a-dozen snoozefest.

2002: Hazy orangey-amber; drips with hops in the nose - resiny, like what I imagine it would be like to lick your fingers after picking hops all day. Large-scale hoppiness, but what I like about this is that unlike most Imperial IPAs, this is balanced and stylish. The hops are intense, but not over the top. The malts do not come in with an overhanded earthiness, but rather serve to provide sweetness only (higher pale malt to crystal ratio is definitely how I like my IPAs). Nicely done. (4.0 overall rating for this version)

Medium beige head atop a very cloudy amber body. Aroma is floral, orange and some grapefruit, not especially bitter (as I expected given the beer's name). Taste is mild floral up top, before adding orange midbody, and finishing with moderate grapefruit-orange hops bite in the swallow. Medium full body. A very nice beer, but with the name and style, I expected more oomph.

Bottle. Muddy amber with a big yellow head. Malty, citrus, hop aroma and taste. Medium to full body with a sharp hoppy, light alcoholic finish.