Mike Loves Beer

Finally another video review.  That’s what you were saying right?  Well I am back with another video review.  This one is of Vertical Jewbelation from the good folks at He’Brew/Shmaltz.  It is a blend of their 8th-14th anniversary recipes then aged in a rye whiskey barrel. Sorry the mic seems to cut out a bit in there.

Name – He’Brew R.I.P.A. on Rye
Country – United States
Type – American Double IPA

I keep it as no surprise that Lenny’s Bittersweet RIPA is one of my favorite Double IPAs out there.  I will even go as far to say it is in my top 3 for that style.  It is just simply unlike any other beer that I have ever had.  The rye taste is one of the most present in any beer I have tried that claims rye in it.  This may be bad because then I always compare the rye quantity in a beer to Lenny’s.  That’s like always comparing oatmeal stouts to Sam Smith.  It’s tough to compare to.

So with that I was able to get my hands on a bottle of a very special and limited edition of Lenny’s.  This is He’Brew’s RIPA on Rye.  A version of Lenny’s aged on rye whiskey barrels. When I read about this beer coming out I just thought, “These guys are geniuses!”  I know some would call it gimmicky but I just find it witty as hell.  It was tough to find this though as the availability in South Florida was very limited.  By the time I had heard that BX Beer Depot had it they were out.  But luckily Kevin at the Funky Buddha told they had gotten bottles in so I picked one up there to take home.  So enough of all that.  Let’s get to the beer.

I popped the cap off of the 22 oz bomber and right away I could smell the rye whiskey barrels.  I poured it into my trusty Dogfish Head snifter and it rested in the glass a brilliant copper, maybe mahogany, color with a nice bubbly off white head.  It left a decent amount of lacing along the glass as well.

The smell is just out of this world!  It is a mix of the rye malts and the whiskey.  You get a nice woody smell from the barrels as well.

The first sip is incredible as well.  The rye malts blend oh so well with the vanilla like notes from the barrel.  Bring on some good hop character and slight booziness from the whiskey and this is just an all around wonder of a beer.  The alcohol taste does get more prominent as it warms up but I think that is to be expected.  It does not turn off putting at all.

I was just so blown away by how good this was that I really couldn’t think of anything out of the ordinary to say in compliments to this beer.  What I will say is damn good job with this one He’Brew.  I hope you make it again and I hope that maybe in a slightly bigger batch.  If you can get a hold of one of these then you absolutely must.

Guess what?  This one is getting the rare top grade from MikeLovesBeer.com

Grade – A+

Name – He’Brew Rejewvenator 2010
Country – United States
Type – Doppelbock

Appearance – Pours a mostly clear dark red color with a thin off white head.

Smell – Dark fruit really is the main scent.  There is some faint malt character too.

Taste – You most certainly get the grapes in this but there are other dark fruit flavors in there as well.  A malty bready presence comes out as well.  There is a Belgian like yeast characteristic to it that really makes this seem more like the Dubbel half of the beer over the Doppelbock.  As it warms up you get the alcohol as well.

This is He’Brew’s 2010 Rejewvenator and it is called the Year of the Grape.  It also says it is part Doppelbock and part Dubbel.  I definitely get more Dubbel character out of this thanks to the grape.  I wasn’t sure what to think of this going in.  I didn’t know if it was going to just taste like an alcoholic grape juice or what.  But I was very happy when it tasted a lot like a traditional Belgian Dubbel.  Who woulda thunk it?  But I really enjoyed this effort at something different.

Overall Grade – B+