*insert funny Jewish joke here*

Well, Barry's rye obsession drew me to this one despite my longtime avoidance of this brand due to fears that Jewish beer would be as bad as Jewish wine. He'brew Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A. This is a rye Imperial IPA and part of the "tribute to jewish stars" collection-in this case Lenny Bruce. Probably should have followed my instincts and avoided this one. First impressions: it is really dark, almost a blood red. The rye flavor is noticeable mostly in the smell. The emphasis in the name should definitely be on the "bitter" aspect...this was one of the bitterest beers I've ever had, and the bitterness grew with the aftertaste. Not so much a "hoppy" flavor as just straight bitterness...like biting into a clove. I wasn't crazy about it. It has some of the imperial ipa flavor, but is lacking malty balance. I don't think I'll be trying this again. Disappointing because I was very much in the mood for a good beer tonight after a hard day of arguing with students and with the coordinator for my course. One of my favorite quotes actually passed through my head with brutal honesty several times during the evening ("I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer."-Homer Simpson)

(Also, remind me sometime to go on a scathing diatribe against departmental exams). The best thing I can say...at least the alcohol content is high. 2/5

Edit: Upon further imbibery, I've found Hopslam continues to cure all that is wrong in the world. I'm buying a case or two of 'slam tomorrow if they still have any.