He'Brew Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A. - Shmaltz Brewing Company

Dogbrick

Ohio

3.3/5  rDev -18.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Sample at Barley's Smokehouse. The beer is a dark amber-brown color with a medium and frothy light beige head that has good retention. Sheets of lacing on the glass. The aroma is an odd mishmash of pungent malt, whiskey, and piney hops. Rich, syrupy body with flavors of tart fruit, liqueur, toasted malt and dry hops. The finish is dry with fruity a cough medicine and rye aftertaste. Maybe I am not appreciating what they tried to do here but the beer seems to be lacking cohesiveness.

Serving type: on-tap

04-01-2008 22:47:31 | More by Dogbrick

sleazo

New York

2.6/5  rDev -36%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

Pours a medium chestnut brown with hints of red intersperced throughout. A very pillowy head leaves tons of lace and has good staying power

S_sweet caramel malt. Where are the bloody hops?

T_more one note caramel sweetness from the malt. The hops are virtually non existant. A very mild bitterness comes out in the aftertaste. Levels of alcohol heat increase as it warms. Where is the rye?

M_mildly syrupy with a very low level carbonation

D_very malty but there is no hop bitterness or defining characteristics. I had been reluctant to try a beer from such a schmaltzy brewery but figured I would give it a shot since its brewed in NY. However I was right, the whole thing is a gimmick.

Serving type: on-tap

11-18-2007 03:03:36 | More by sleazo

blakesell

Ohio

4.28/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured on He'brew night with Jeremy Cowan at the Trolley Stop into a traditional pint glass.

Appearance- Red with a grand head of carbonated goodness. Thick lacing coats the glass.

Smell- Amarillo sticky sweet grapefruit hoppiness, oranges, and light malts.

Taste- Malt upfront with hops quickly bringing up the rear. Hops wallop the palate and urge the need for a glass of water to accompany.

Mouthfeel- Sticky and effervescent, well carbonated with a medium full body.

Drinkability- Very high drinkability on this elixer. High warming alcohol that I wasn't told about until after I finished. But I have the distinct feeling that I could drink many and not be too drunk.

Great job on this one He'brew!

Serving type: on-tap

11-15-2007 01:27:59 | More by blakesell

genog

Ohio

3.78/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This was #2 on tap at Bodega last night.

Pours a dark copper color with a thick amount of a light brown head, 2 inches. Leaves some sticky lacing along the side of the glass. Smell is of rye, and the earthy/citrus Hoppiness that is the Double IPA. Strong hops dominate but the rye malt shines through on the palate. Mouthfeeling finishes dry and a little sticky. Very full feeling.

Serving type: on-tap

10-12-2007 15:24:49 | More by genog

neenerzig

Ohio

4.33/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

The first Rye IPA I have ever had (as described to me by the bartender who served me). Served in a goblet style glass. This beer pours a deep golden color witha reddish hue and ruby highlights. The off-shite head is about a finger thick upon being dran from the tap and settles to a nice film cover with decent lacing. Nice, sweet aromas of pine, citrus and hops are present up front along with some malts. Flavors of the aforementioned hops, pine, and citrus are present along with some rye, malt and perhaps a bit of grapefruit or lemon. Very good and well balanced taste indeed. Unlike any other Double IPA I have had. Has a crisp, thick mouthfeel with moderate carbonation. Quite drinkable indeed. This beer does the winning!

Eric

Serving type: on-tap

03-23-2007 03:38:43 | More by neenerzig

DrMalt

Saskatchewan (Canada)

3.9/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured from 650 ml bottle.

A dark orange/copper with a very frothy eggshell coloured head.

Aroma was strong. Almost perfumy with its floral smell. Classis fruitiness from Cascade or Centennial hop.

Taste was definitely malty, alcoholic and some peppery flavour. Loads of bitterness to match the malt. I didn't detect any rye flavours but that could be because of the strength of this brew.

Mouthfeel was initially a creamy, full bodied feeling & then the alcohol kicked in leaving a warming almost astringent mouthfeel.

Drinkability was slightly minimized by the strong alcohol body. Still a terrific IPA but the high gravity takes away from one pouring more.

Sampled this alongside some other IPA's & DIPA's. Is a tremoundous beer but was almost too big to be compared against the other IPA's & DIPA. Came in 3rd out of 6 IPA's I sampled.

Serving type: growler

02-04-2007 19:46:06 | More by DrMalt

BeerBelcher

Ohio

3.58/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

I had this on-tap at the 1850 Landmark Inn in Milwaukee. I had sampled this beer (more than once, actually) at the GABF, and it was the best rye beer I had there. However, I still prefer Founder's Red Rye, although this beer is very good.

It was served in a tulip glass and was a reddish brown color with two fingers of white head. Maybe it was the glass, but this beer had almost a cabernet wine sort of color to it, which was appealing.

The smell hoppy, without a lot of maltiness that you might expect from a beer made with rye.

But the rye was evident in the taste, but not to the extent that is in Red's Rye. I felt that more rye taste may have made this beer taste a bit more balanced. The hop bitterness was good, and pretty untamed due to what I perceived as a lack of malt balance.

Mouthfeel was good...not too sticky but also not watery.

Drinkability was also decent. This beer has a high enough ABV that you're well-advised to not go slugging down 16 oz at a time, but I could have multiple 8-10 oz servings of this beer. All in all, I'd recommend it.

Serving type: on-tap

12-20-2006 20:17:43 | More by BeerBelcher

jameaterblues

New York

4.38/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

On tap at Collin's bar and served in a tulip glass.
A-Dark copper/amber color....1/2 inch cream colored head that diminished quickly.
S- Spicy and citrusy hops...brown sugar...plum and red fruit...almost has a bitter smell, and the alcohol becomes present as it warms...rye malt is present, but not dominant.
T- Raisins, plum and prunes are big and sweet...light cirtusy hops, and a slight floweriness...sweet on the front and bitter in the finish(just as the name describes)....followed by a long lasting bitter finish and a light taste of alcohol.
M-Thick, light bubbles, coasts the tongue, and is almost of a syrup consistency.
D- I would definitely order this one again...but I don't think I would make it into a night.

Serving type: on-tap

09-28-2006 19:32:02 | More by jameaterblues

shbobdb

Indiana

3.08/5  rDev -24.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

I love rye beers.

I love hops.

What isn't to like? Well . . . nothing. But what is to like?

Some DIPAs are all about the hops. Some of them have a strong malt presence that balances out the sheer hop volume. This is one of the latter catagory, but it doesn't work. It is very sweet, but monodimensional in terms of malt. There is some light rye spiciness, but nothing serious, but it manages to be excessively sweet and dry at the same time. 'Creamy' is the taste/texture combination used to describe this taste of maltiness to me. I freakin' hate it.

And the hops? Resiny, but that's it. The resin conflicts with the light rye spiciness.

Absolutely run-of-the-mill.

Oh, and it is hot as heck!!! The 10% is really hit-you-over-the head noticable. Not my cup of tea.

Serving type: on-tap

08-18-2006 01:28:11 | More by shbobdb

hunteraw

China

3.65/5  rDev -10.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: beautiful white head, absolutely incredible head retention, the best I've ever seen. It must be the rye. Body is a clear ruddy color.

Smell: inverted from the other he'brew beers, where sweet malt is dominant - this one has a very strong spicy hops character, with the malt playing a supporting role. Somewhat bready.

Taste: spicy hop bite up front, which gives way to sweet malt. Alcohol fairly well-hidden, I thought. Not my favorite of the he'brew line, I have to say. Drinking this beer is like a kick in the head, it's very strongly flavored.

Mouthfeel: medium-heavy mouthfeel, dry acidic finish that aids drinkability a little, but the aftertaste lingers.

Drinkability: I drank this one slower than the others. I enjoyed it, but I won't be seeking this one out again.

Serving type: on-tap

07-25-2006 02:34:58 | More by hunteraw

dfried

Minnesota

4.47/5  rDev +10.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Dark amber-red color, but you can still see through it. Average size, sticky head forms with nice small bubbles, ending up as a decent ring and film over the top. The aroma is not especially pungent, it's of sweet dark fruit like plum and fig, and is a bit hoppy but not 'in your face' hoppy. The first sip was so thick and syrupy that it took a second for any flavor at all to hit, but it did, oh boy did it ever. The taste is even sweeter that the dark fruit aroma may have led on. Array of fruity flavors, plum, fig, even dark grapes. Noticeable but not robust grainy flavor from the rye, adds to the overall feel of the beer. And then the hops, how can you forget the hops, it is an IPA after all. This is a malt dominated beer, but there is a good floral, and a little pine-like bite from the hops. This beer definitely straddles the barley wine/DIPA fence. Mouthfeel is nice and sticky, finishes dry. I have used the term dangerously drinkable before, but there is no other term that would apply better to the drinkability of this beer. 10%, are you kidding me?

Serving type: on-tap

07-13-2006 14:17:23 | More by dfried