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Improv (Improvisación) Oatmeal Rye India-Style Brown Ale - Cigar City Brewing

Improv (Improvisación) Oatmeal Rye India-Style Brown AleImprov (Improvisación) Oatmeal Rye India-Style Brown Ale

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BA SCORE
85
good
-
293 Ratings		 THE BROS
N/A

-
send 'em beer »		 rAvg: 3.77
pDev: 16.71%
Reviews: 175
Hads: 118

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Brewed by:
Cigar City Brewing visit their website
Florida, United States

Style | ABV
American Brown Ale |  9.00% ABV

Availability: Year-round. bottle (162), on-tap (11), growler (2). 

Notes:
What you have here is an Oatmeal Rye India-style Brown Ale. Now you might be thinking oatmeal, rye, brown ale, India-style; isn’t that a lot to be going on in just one beer? Well yes, it is. But that is the point. Layers. Flavor elements building on and playing off of preceding elements, like a building wave; a growing crescendum of taste bud temptation; a wall of sound expressed through flavor and channeled toward your mouth. This beer isn’t for everyone. In many ways it is more than just a little weird. It certainly doesn’t fit easily into any category. It isn’t a brown ale, not just a brown ale anyway. It certainly isn’t an IPA. Calling it a rye beer would be selling it way short. In the spirit of all great things that are conceived in the moment, but perfected through passionate repetition it started life as an improvisation and grew from there. And it might not be for you. But if the thought of big spicy rye notes, a wallop of a hop punch, multitudinous layers of caramel, sweet malt and a respectable balancing gravity sound intriguing then you might want to wing it and give Improv a try.

60 IBU
View:  Beers  (174) |  Reviews  (105) |  Events  (0)

Reviews
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Reviews by 4balance:
Photo of 4balance
4balance

Oklahoma

4.25/5  rDev +12.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

1 pint 9.4 oz bottle thanks to DSho (great BA)

Pours a deep dark brown with an inch of khaki head with really good sticky lacing throughout.

Aroma is rye, hops, oats and malt.

Taste is amazing! A plethora of flavor, rye, hops, deep dark roasted caramel malts, oats, chocolate, coffee and spices.

Mouthfeel has average carbonation, drying bitter finish along with some malts that linger.

Overall an amazing brew, tons of really complex flavors. Mighty tasty; recommended.

Serving type: bottle

06-10-2012 05:49:03 | More by 4balance
More User Reviews:
Photo of ironchefmiyagi13
ironchefmiyagi13

New York

3.75/5  rDev -0.5%

05-23-2013 02:00:41 | More by ironchefmiyagi13
Photo of velcrogrip
velcrogrip

Florida

4/5  rDev +6.1%

05-22-2013 03:54:45 | More by velcrogrip
Photo of Bosoxfan20
Bosoxfan20

Missouri

4.26/5  rDev +13%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Had to get this one based on the Cigar City description. Very interested to see how they could make this smorgasbord profile work.

A- Mahogany brown with light fluffy, khaki head of about 1 finger. Avg lacing and retention for the style. Beautiful color

S- A little bit of everything- chocolate, citrus hops, resinous hops, brown sugar, charred but not quite burn caramel, smoke, mocha, and black pepper. My taste buds have received the olfactory message and are curious for what's in store....

T- Follows nose. It's as if I'm on a rollercoaster in a dark tunnel- a lot of twists and turns, I don't know what's coming next, but I find myself really enjoying it! A great mix of all the smells led off by a sweet malt, then a dose of hops along with the huge spice of the rye. It's complex and well done. Dark fruits even seem to find there way in the mix. Toasted oats and caramel. Almost seems like it has a barrel aged flavor to it, or some kind of phenols. Maybe the rye again? Whatever...it works.

M- Spicy dry finish. Full body with fair drinkability. Nice carbonation for the style.

O- A ton going on here...and somehow it seems to work. One of my favorite rye beers. Gave it a little bump in overall rating because of the uniqueness and how it finds a nice continuity among the many bold elements. Would probably be in the "Specialty" category if in a BJCP tasting event

No bottled on date that I could find

$10.49 for 750 ml

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2013 16:00:58 | More by Bosoxfan20
Photo of FUwolfpacker
FUwolfpacker

South Carolina

3.75/5  rDev -0.5%

05-18-2013 03:11:32 | More by FUwolfpacker
Photo of michaeljstraub
michaeljstraub

Georgia

3.75/5  rDev -0.5%

05-16-2013 19:50:12 | More by michaeljstraub
Photo of RayUF07
RayUF07

Florida

4.25/5  rDev +12.7%

05-16-2013 02:28:05 | More by RayUF07
Photo of MarkyMOD
MarkyMOD

Colorado

3.75/5  rDev -0.5%

05-10-2013 16:38:03 | More by MarkyMOD
Photo of LEdubs
LEdubs

Florida

3.75/5  rDev -0.5%

05-05-2013 12:18:30 | More by LEdubs
Photo of Kelp
Kelp

New Hampshire

3.25/5  rDev -13.8%

05-04-2013 20:42:06 | More by Kelp
Photo of hornsup
hornsup

Virginia

4.25/5  rDev +12.7%

05-01-2013 18:21:51 | More by hornsup
Photo of ajtorres311
ajtorres311

Florida

3.25/5  rDev -13.8%

05-01-2013 15:03:29 | More by ajtorres311
Photo of tswater
tswater

Colorado

4/5  rDev +6.1%

04-29-2013 03:05:07 | More by tswater
Photo of beernads
beernads

Florida

3.25/5  rDev -13.8%

04-29-2013 00:03:44 | More by beernads
Photo of drewone
drewone

California

3/5  rDev -20.4%

04-22-2013 02:26:49 | More by drewone
Photo of tbeckett
tbeckett

Ontario (Canada)

4.05/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at the brewpub. From notes.

A - Poured dark brown with reddish tints. One finger beige head and good carbonation. Spotty lace and a film of retention.

S - Rich maltiness with dark fruits and nuttiness. Fruity hops and light rye. Lovely aroma.

T - Rye came out more. Rich maltiness again, some citrus towards the finish.

M - Nice bitterness, good carbonation, full body.

O/D - A nice strong, hoppy rye. The rye was restrained, which I like. Nice balance with no alcohol to speak of in the flavour. Good.

Serving type: on-tap

04-21-2013 11:26:04 | More by tbeckett
Photo of Bluecane
Bluecane

North Carolina

2.75/5  rDev -27.1%

04-21-2013 06:38:53 | More by Bluecane
Photo of andthevolcano
andthevolcano

Delaware

3.75/5  rDev -0.5%

04-19-2013 22:48:45 | More by andthevolcano
Photo of macrosmatic
macrosmatic

Florida

4.26/5  rDev +13%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Reviewed from notes. Had on-tap at CCB tasting room. Served in a snifter glass.

A: Dark reddish brown with a 1/2 finger tan head of large bubbles. Low visible carbonation.

S: Roasty, toasty rich bready malts over some hops (citrus/lemon and grass).

T: Sweet bready roasted malts with big grainy rye flavors, plus the citrus, spicy and pine hops. There is significant roasty coffee noticeable on the exhale. Sticky sweet malt balanced with the hop bitterness at the end.

M: Heavier body than expected, chewy mouthfeel, moderate carbonation sensation. The alcohol is somewhat noticeable, but not overly so for this high of an ABV.

O: Interesting, and much more complex than the vast majority of non-spiced brown ales. Enjoyable and recommended.

Serving type: on-tap

04-15-2013 20:07:21 | More by macrosmatic
Photo of BMMillsy
BMMillsy

Florida

3.5/5  rDev -7.2%

04-13-2013 03:18:05 | More by BMMillsy
Photo of largadeer
largadeer

California

2.5/5  rDev -33.7%

04-12-2013 18:37:35 | More by largadeer
Photo of cyrushire
cyrushire

Florida

3.75/5  rDev -0.5%

04-08-2013 21:06:16 | More by cyrushire
Photo of JReites
JReites

Florida

4/5  rDev +6.1%

04-06-2013 20:09:00 | More by JReites
Photo of drop6301
drop6301

Oregon

4/5  rDev +6.1%

04-01-2013 14:32:52 | More by drop6301
Photo of Auror
Auror

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +6.1%

03-30-2013 21:23:13 | More by Auror
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Improv (Improvisación) Oatmeal Rye India-Style Brown Ale from Cigar City Brewing
85 out of 100 based on 293 user ratings.