1001 Beers: Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A.

Beer Number 46: Shmaltz Brewing Company Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A.

This beer really caught my attention due to the fact that it was a Rye IPA. Technically, it is a Double IPA. It says so on the bottle but what does that matter? They advertise the fact that this beer is brewed with an obscene amount of malt & hops on the bottle and they call it a tribute to Jewish Stars. One in-particular makes this beer very special to Shmaltz. They post his whole story on the side of the bottle in very small print.

Throughout his controversial career, Leonard Alfred Schneider was better known by his stage name, Lenny Bruce, and he was only forty years old when he died penniless of a drug overdose. But he left his mark. As a result of his many arrest and trials for obscenity, Bruce became a symbol for free speech, inspiring countless others to push the boundaries of artistic expression.

This beer uses 7 varieties of hops, five malts, and 3 kinds of rye. That is pretty insane if you ask me but I guess based on that alone I can see how they get away with advertising, "shocking flavors".

The head on this beer was tall, soft, and tan and the beer was a very deep burgundy. Vert appealing, if I do say so myself. When I took a whiff of it, I got a nice strong spice, a lot of malt character, and a widely sweet aroma. Dark fruits and alcohol rounded this one out.

Shocking flavors... I would not go that far but this one was a citrus explosion in my mouth. A ton of grapefruit coated every inch of my mouth that it could. It is very thick, malty, and very syrupy. A straight kick in the face. A ton of bitterness as well. I would say everything else that is going on balances the bitterness out but it is, again, is a big kick that stays with you for a long, long time. I feel that the lingering of the grapefruit is more overpowering than the bitterness.

This beer was not for me. It was not bad, but everything together was just way too much. I prefer my IPAs to be more clean in both the body and flavor profile... the exception of course would be Dogfish Head. Their various minute IPAs mix malty and hoppy together in ways that just should not work, but they do.

955 Bottles Of Beer To Go!

Cheers!