Cigar City Improvisacion (Oatmeal Rye India Brown Ale)

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Rating from 2009. Pours deep dark chocolate brown with tan head. The aroma is big and sweet with lots tangelo citrus sweetness from a load of late addition hopping followed close behind by muted malt notes in the background made up of chocolate, roasty malts and almost detectable rye. I get a myriad of other hoppy notes under the heavy handed citrus tangelo and orange like some floral, spice, a bit of pine and subtle grassiness. The taste is thick and near chewy with tangelo hop flavor sweetness rushing in first followed by a growing varied mix of hop bitterness starting mostly with thick citrus hops, some floral and spice. The bitterness seems to peak as the finish approaches and carries deep into the after taste. For the malt side of this there are notes of various roasted base malts, a solid rye twang that seems to bridge the gap between bitter hops and meatier malts. The overall taste experience seems a little disjointed with a load of hops and a bold mix of complex malts polarizing the experience somewhat. It seems to lack a little harmony. That’s just the sense I get. Those comments are getting a little too picky. It is a real tasty brew.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Another challenge. I’m game. Another bright yellow colored beer. Rapidly raising bubbles in the beginning would soon settle down. This time the head is slightly bigger, soapy in texture and white. But it settles quickly into a very thin light-soapy ringlet. The nose is not as offensive as the Extra. Still corn sweetness in the nose. The metallic hint absent in the nose is there ever so slightly in a light-smooth body.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

Pours a murky tan brown .. . light mouth, wow, how did 6months fuck this beer up so bad .. . muddled cereal, light chocolate, and light cocoa bitterness .. . disappointing to say the least, but everyone around the table seemed to enjoy it more than me .. . Ballerinas are always on their toes. Why don't they just get taller ballerinas?..

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottled@omhper. Hazy deep brown colour with mediumsized beige head. Aroma is chocolate, fruits, some slight yeast, mild wood and herbs. Flavour is zest, chocolate, mild toasted notes as well as some ryebreadlike notes. Underlying fruityness all the way through as well. Quite interesting brew.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle: Poured a cloudy deep brown color ale with a huge light brown color head with good retention and some good lacing. Aroma of strong grassy and earthy hops are mix with some rye malt. Taste is a somewhat unique mix between loads of rye malt with loads of grassy and earthy hops and a medium bitter finish. Body is quite full with limited filtration and great carbonation with no apparent alcohol. Not sure I would drink this on a regular basis but a very interesting experiment nonetheless.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

This was my third brew by Cigar City, and so far, my favorite that I've tried. I have noticed that each kind has similar hops characteristics, but this Indian Brown seems to use malts that balance it out well. A little bit more bitter than sweet. Has a dark brown, slightly red-orange appearance with a light tan/mocha head. Flavor is hops, pines, caramel, oatmeal, etc. I hardly noticed that this was 9%, seemed closer to 7%ish. I've had plenty of 8-10% beers that had a much stronger alcohol aroma and taste. Would buy this again to share or to serve with a nice dinner, but not too sure if I'd kick out $10 again to drink alone (DFH's IBA is about half the price and almost the same). You pay for quality though in these kinds of situations, and this is definitely a good quality brew.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Pours a very dark brown color that almost looks like black in the glass with a big head. The aroma shows lots of pine, smells like wet leaves in the woods after a hard rain. Some toasty scent as well. Big piney hop flavors mix with caramel, oats, the rye, and toffee. Interesting mix of flavors that works pretty well although it's a bit odd at times. Quite a bit of firm bitterness to this as well. Solid beer.