Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A.
Shmaltz Brewing Company (He’Brew)
San Francisco, CA
10.00% ABV
Style: Imperial IPA

C: Clear
H: Amber
N: Sweet Malt and Rye

The Ferm; Ok, so thank you to “The Cerveza Chica” for picking this beer up for me as a gift. I don’t think I would have bought it myself, but she felt that I should try it since it was getting a good “buzz” with the beer geeks we hang out with. I have never been overly impressed with much from Shmaltz, but hey I will never turn down a free beer.

Well if you are looking for liquid Rye Bread…this beer is for you! Maybe you are watching your carbohydrate intake, this beer will probably pair great with some deli sliced pastrami.

Seriously though there is just an enormous amount of roasty, bitter, and rye flavored malts. Very little hop presence to a beer that is listed as an Imperial IPA.

The bottle states “what a fine beer this is…..” from All About Beer. REALLY?!?!? By no means am I going to say it is bad, but I would not go on record saying that this is a fine beer. After all I have to worry about my “Beer-Cred” (its like street-cred but for beer). My review…good, but not great. Can I re-gift a half drank bottle?!?

Score: 2.61

110K+OT Batch 3 (“The Other West Coast IPA”)
Cigar City Brewing Company
Tampa, FL.
10.00% ABV

C. Cloudy
H. Golden Yellow Almost Orange
N. Strong Malt Sweetness, Citrus and Fruity Hints

EvilTwin; I have to thank my good friend and fellow rocker JT for getting me a bottle of this while he was in Tampa last week and Joey for putting aside 2 bottles for me. I’ve been greatly anticipating this beer since I first heard of it’s inception many months back and it’s definitely lived up to it’s hype thus far. The aroma has notes of citrus, floral hops, light dried fruits, and malts. To quote TheFerm from the Commodore Perry IPA rating “Malt made this IPA it’s bitch” I couldn’t have said it better myself. What else really impressed me was how it was much more on the citrus side.The hops were a big part as well, but to me the citrus really came through much more. The color is a dark brown with a light orange hue to it, when held up to the light. The foam, or lack there of, quickly dissolved after pouring it into my glass. The texture is very smooth and light, the after taste doesn’t stick on my mouth like most IPA’s I’ve tried in the past, but rather leaves a sweet citrus bittery bite. One of my favorite Cigar City beers that I’ve tried thus far.
Score 4.3

The Ferm; 110k is a one off series that the gentlemen at Cigar City release about once a year. This year instead of going the Stout route which was where Batch 1 and 2 went, they decided to go the Imperial IPA direction. Now we all know that Cigar City makes some lovely IPA’s, and I am not shy in saying that the Jai Alai IPA is my favorite single IPA available year round….hands down.
This said I was really excited about the 110k Batch #3. Did it fall short….na not really, but did it live up to my expectations…nope! It isn’t a bad beer, but it is not my “pint of IPA”, there is an amazing amount of sweetness to this beer. The malt backing is insane, and I am not a huge fan of a big malty IPA. The flavors blending well together and there was a subtle hop bitterness to the taste, which was nice. It sort-a fell flat in my opinion. It reminded me of a “baby version” of Hop Slam, just a bit thicker. Maybe I was expecting a bigger hoppy-er beer than I should have been expecting. Regardless I still recommend picking up a bottle and trying it out for yourself, it is still very easy to drink.
Score 3.895

Overall: 4.0975

Big A IPA
Smuttynose Brewing Co.
Portsmouth, NH (USA)
9.60% ABV

C. Slightly Hazy
H. Dark Orange/Light Amber in Color
N. Hops, Hops and More Hops. Citus, Floral, Piney, and Some Honey Notes

El Guapo; Damn, I have a hard time reviewing some IPA’s… unless they stand out like my favorites (Maharaja, Hopslam, CCB Humidor, Pliny, Gubna, etc), they tend to be hard for me to really describe… sure they are hop forward, but what else?
anyways, I don’t remember much about this beer, but according to my notes I thought the nose was a bit boozy and a little sweet. Of course hops dominated with some citrusy and lemony notes to it… maybe a little grassy. The beer was hoppy but still balanced by some sweetness. It wasn’t anything special… It did not stand out and I have no clue what else to say about this beer. I think I am kind of picky with my IPA’s and double IPA’s. I know what I want and many don’t impress me anymore. Oh well, I’ve been spoiled by some amazing IPA’s I guess…
Score: 3

The Ferm; First I will ask the question, what is the deal with the guy wearing underwear on this bottle? Anyone else get mildly turned off by this? Like when your shopping for beer and looking for something new, you would be like “ohh hey look a man in underwear on a bottle…lets buy this one!” I have talked about Smuttynose’s labels before and how I thought they all looked like Stone Temple Pilot Album Covers. This one is just odd.
The beer inside was good, but not great. It seemed like a straight forward IPA, there was a nice hop presence with a solid malt backing. The 9.6% ABV was hidden well in this one though….maybe that’s what the guy is smuggling in his underwear…(sorry that was bad, and I will even admit it). Thing is with IPA’s its really show up big or go home. Average just won’t cut it. I think it is time for Big A to go home and put some pants on.
Score: 2.60

Overall: 2.8

Three Floyds – Dreadnaught Imperial IPA
Three Floyds Brewing
Munster, IN
9.50% ABV

C. Orange
H. Clear
N. Crazy Fruits…Mango and Peach subtle hops and caramel

Cerveza Chica; I had high hopes for this beer since it is not something we have access to in Florida. The name of this beer was a lot scarier than the beer itself. The alcohol content was just right. It wasn’t too much but you could definitely get hints of it. I fell in love with the smell of this beer because I am a big fan of fruity beers. I loved the hints of mango and sweet fruit mixed with a bit of hops. The initial taste of this beer was like a beer fruit smoothie to me. Amazing! The end notes of this beer seemed to be strictly caramel and hops. It was great because it wasn’t overly bitter. This beer is really nice to drink and it kept me going back for more. I was very impressed with the complexity of this beer. It had such a nice palette of tastes and smells. It is such a shame we only have one bottle of this. We will definitely have to try to get our hands on another one.
Score:4.27

Ferm; Alright I think this tasting took me a total of a full hour. This is such a complex beer, I wanted to taste it cold, and allow it to warm up to get the entire spectrum of flavor. Cold I got a lot of fruit, heavy caramel and a tad bit of alcohol. Warm I got a balanced blend of caramel and sweetness from fruit (sweet mango), and a touch of alcohol. This is really an interesting beer. The label doesn’t lie…”IT’S NOT NORMAL”. This is my first introduction to Three Floyds and I think I found my new favorite brewery, sorry Magic Hat. WHAT?!? Magic Hat? Yep, The thing I love about Magic Hat, now Three Floyds, and even Cigar City is the fact that they don’t brew “normal” beers. They are flavored a bit off, and the breweries seem to take more of a risk and somehow it works. Once again this beer was part of a trade. I look forward to getting my hands on some more next year!
Score: 4.35

Overall: 4.31

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