Smuttynose Big A IPA

[sallad]

22oz bottle at about 54*F. bottle conditioned - lots of yeast in the bottom of the bottle!

light "chssssshh" upon opening, but i noticed some rust around the edge of the bottle and cap. don't know if maybe this one wasn't sealed quite right...

poured bright gold with a slight yeast haze and tight white head. head slowly faded to a nice ring.

sweet malty/bready/yeasty aroma with grassy and earthy hops and underlying alcohol.

as it passes your lips its hard to say what hits you harder - big malt or big bitterness. perhaps a bit yeasty through out. well balanced, medium to slightly full bodied. lots of malt sweetness and crisp bitter bite. fades into earthy hops, with a long slightly sour finish.

the sour finish was a little distracting. i may have gotten a slightly bad bottle that wasn't sealed quite right, or perhaps this beer is just a little young and the alcohol is showing through a little too strongly. i guess there is only one thing to do: buy another bottle! well, 2 more bottles - one for now and one for the cellar!

overall, quite a good beer. i have a feeling my bottle was not bad, and that it'll benefit from aging for a year or 3.

[threecb]

Funny, I had a bottle of this on Sunday and everything that you've said was spot on.

I had a little rust around the cap, also. Heavy yeast sediment.

The hop character you've described was similar to what I got, maybe a bit piney. But the "sourness" that I got came through in the first few swallows and then subsided as I went through the rest of the bottle. I attributed this to citrusy hop character that I got up front which then settled into the grassy/piney notes. The citrus reminded me at first of DFH 120, but to a WAY lesser degree.

Overall, I enjoyed it too, and agree that it could've stood some more cellaring. (I bought my bottle around November, I think)

[newportstorm]

The Big A IPA is not bottle conditioned. Most likely unfiltered but not bottle conditioned. Smuttynose just started bottle conditioning all of their Big Beers with this year's Barleywine. Still, a very nice Imperial IPA that should cellar fine for up to a year.

Cheers!

[sallad]

The Big A IPA is not bottle conditioned. Most likely unfiltered but not bottle conditioned.

is there a difference there? i always sorta thought yeast in the bottle = bottle conditioned. reading smuttynose's website makes me think that the barleywine was the first time they bottle carbonated (added priming sugar at bottling time, as us homebrewers do), but is there any "technical" difference between that and bottle conditioning?

But the "sourness" that I got came through in the first few swallows and then subsided as I went through the rest of the bottle.

agreed. this was a fairly strong brew i believe - had me feeling a little smiley by the end of it - so i didn't mind the finish as much as my glass got emptier.

[steveh]

Originally posted by sallad
is there a difference there? i always sorta thought yeast in the bottle = bottle conditioned. reading smuttynose's website makes me think that the barleywine was the first time they bottle carbonated (added priming sugar at bottling time, as us homebrewers do), but is there any "technical" difference between that and bottle conditioning?

There's a difference between sediment from being non-filtered and sediment from bottle conditioning. Non-filtered just means that, after the beer had finished the ferment course, the brewery didn't bother to filter before bottling - as most breweries will.

The way I perceive it, while bottle conditioning can be the same method as a home-brewer's carbonation process, it can also be more involved - such as the brewers knowing that the beer hasn't quite finished its ferment and adding a touch more wort (or sugar, or dry extract) or even more yeast to allow the beer to finalize in the bottle - and probably changing the character just a bit more than just allowing for carbonation.

Stod or Monkey, have you bottle conditioned any beers at your pubs?

S.

BTW - rust on the caps? Isn't that asking for tomain?

[threecb]

Originally posted by steveh
BTW - rust on the caps? Isn't that asking for tomain?

While I wasn't thrilled to see this, it seemed like it was at the tips of the ridges on the crown, with some transferred to the bottom of the bottle's lip. I don't think any was in contact with the beer.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by steveh
There's a difference between sediment from being non-filtered and sediment from bottle conditioning. Non-filtered just means that, after the beer had finished the ferment course, the brewery didn't bother to filter before bottling - as most breweries will.

The way I perceive it, while bottle conditioning can be the same method as a home-brewer's carbonation process, it can also be more involved - such as the brewers knowing that the beer hasn't quite finished its ferment and adding a touch more wort (or sugar, or dry extract) or even more yeast to allow the beer to finalize in the bottle - and probably changing the character just a bit more than just allowing for carbonation.

Stod or Monkey, have you bottle conditioned any beers at your pubs?

S.

BTW - rust on the caps? Isn't that asking for tomain?

I'd also be curious as to what filter medium Stod and Monkey use? Do they still use diatomacious earth? or is it some synthetic filter?

[Stodbrew]

I don't do any bottling at the pub, everything is draught, and occaionally cask conditioned. I do, however, filter my beers. I use a sheet filter which is basically two layers of cellulose with diatomaceous earth sandwiched between. A lot of breweries that use DE filters are switching from DE to something called Perlite. I'm not sure exactly what the difference is, but I think that Perlite is synthetic.

When I make my casks, I fill the firkin from the fermenter, and usually add some dark corn syrup for priming. Occasionally, I will add a pint or two of high krausen wort, if I have any. Both ways usually work out very well, with very nice results.