Improv (Improvisación) Oatmeal Rye India-Style Brown Ale
Cigar City Brewing

Improv (Improvisación) Oatmeal Rye India-Style Brown AleImprov (Improvisación) Oatmeal Rye India-Style Brown Ale
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From:
Cigar City Brewing
 
Florida, United States
Style:
American Brown Ale
ABV:
9%
Score:
85
Avg:
3.77 | pDev: 15.65%
Reviews:
179
Ratings:
367
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 13, 2021
Added:
Mar 29, 2009
Wants:
  38
Gots:
  53
What you have here is an Oatmeal Rye India-style Brown Ale. Now you might be thinking oatmeal, rye, brown ale, India-style; isn’t that a lot to be going on in just one beer? Well yes, it is. But that is the point. Layers. Flavor elements building on and playing off of preceding elements, like a building wave; a growing crescendum of taste bud temptation; a wall of sound expressed through flavor and channeled toward your mouth. This beer isn’t for everyone. In many ways it is more than just a little weird. It certainly doesn’t fit easily into any category. It isn’t a brown ale, not just a brown ale anyway. It certainly isn’t an IPA. Calling it a rye beer would be selling it way short. In the spirit of all great things that are conceived in the moment, but perfected through passionate repetition it started life as an improvisation and grew from there. And it might not be for you. But if the thought of big spicy rye notes, a wallop of a hop punch, multitudinous layers of caramel, sweet malt and a respectable balancing gravity sound intriguing then you might want to wing it and give Improv a try.

60 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by mullenite:
Photo of mullenite
Reviewed by mullenite from Florida

4.03/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This beer may have the longest name of any beer I've ever had... the bottle art is also one of the coolest. I would wear this on a shirt.

Pours a very dark brown, near black with a tall, thick beige head that is going nowhere fast. This head is thick and is leaving a solid lacing on the glass. It's a thing of beauty.

Now that I can finally start to see the beer maybe I can get a good sense of the smell. Sniffing with the head on the only way I would describe it is... unique... I'm not quite sure what an Oatmeal Rye India Brown Ale should smell like so bear with me.

Okay, let say you take a really great DIPA and pour it in to an stout... that is what you get. Lots of rich chocolate, lots of piney hops and touch of citrus as well. I don't really get a whole lot of the rye in the nose which is a little disappointing but on the whole this beer smells good.

The taste is complex. Rye, chocolate, hops, alcohol, hops. It actually seems as though the taste of the hops is bringing out more of the alcohol flavor. Very rich beer with a lot going on.

Big thick mouthfeel, very creamy and viscous. Almost feels like a nitro beer but with more (and much sharper) carbonation.

This beer is good but it's a sipper for sure. Not a real easy drinker.
Oct 08, 2009
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4 by hoosier222002 from Illinois

Jun 13, 2021
 
Rated: 3.54 by pisano from Massachusetts

Aug 29, 2016
 
Rated: 4.35 by DaPan from Canada (ON)

Mar 26, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by Hohnbaum from Kansas

Feb 10, 2016
 
Rated: 3.65 by jaydoc from Kansas

Feb 08, 2016
Photo of pat61
Reviewed by pat61 from Minnesota

4.25/5  rDev +12.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Appearance: Brilliant deep chestnut under a 3” lightly tan tinted foam cap that mounds up over the rim of the glass and produces thick clumps opf lace. Smell: Rich malt spice from the rye and oats, some roast. Taste: Spicy grain, an underlying malt sweetness, cardamom, and faint caramel notes. Finishes with alcoholic warming and bitter chocolate, some astringency and a dash of hops. Mouthfeel: Above average carbonation that has a little bite to it. The body is medium full with a little slickness.
Mar 22, 2015
 
Rated: 3.85 by matt23j from Florida

Mar 06, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by wethorseblanket from California

Dec 08, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by olradetbalder from Sweden

Nov 13, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Docrock from Illinois

Oct 12, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by ari32 from Georgia

Aug 01, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by tetu from Louisiana

Jul 23, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by thebigredone from Wisconsin

Jul 21, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Howlader from Canada (AB)

Jul 20, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by KAF from Iowa

Jul 03, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by GatorLCA from Florida

Jul 02, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by huntermop from South Carolina

Jun 26, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Hopsiam14 from Minnesota

Jun 18, 2014
 
Rated: 2.25 by DustinSWB from Florida

May 05, 2014
Improv (Improvisación) Oatmeal Rye India-Style Brown Ale from Cigar City Brewing
Beer rating: 85 out of 100 with 367 ratings