This past weekend was a great weekend in South Florida. The rain and wind held off and we had the perfect weekend to kick off the summer. While Saturday and Sunday were great sport days with MLB, NBA playoff basketball, the Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600 on TV, I took my passion for sports outside and ran a 5k on Memorial Day. While the 90 degree heat and nearly 100% humidity made for what I can only describe as a less than ideal run, the beer I had after the race made everything better: Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A. from the Schmaltz Brewing Company.

 I have enjoyed He'brew's other beers from Coney Island for quite some time now, but today was my first experience with their rye based IPA that is a tribute to the late Lenny Bruce. As a fan of stand up comedy, I knew that any beer that was dedicated Lenny Bruce must push the edge just like he did. The beer certainly came through on all accounts.

 While I would not normally recommend reaching for a 10% ABV as soon as you cross the finish line in a race long before noon, my de facto running coach was there and he assured me, this would be better for us than Gatorade or coconut water.  He had no idea how correct he was. This beer comes through with plenty of BIG flavors and aromas. The tougher nature of the rye grain stands up well to the abundance of hops and carries the flavor of this beer through until the last drop. While other high alcohol IPAs are often nearly undrinkable, this one drank like velvet. If it was not stamped on the bottle, I would have never guessed how much punch this beer was packing. It is now easily in my top 5 IPAs of all time and the best news is it is available all year long. If you do not see it in your favorite ABC, just ask and we will get some for you. This beer is too good to pass up. 

Keep your glasses half full,
Evan

Beer blogger Evan Kaye is regional manager of our Palm Beach area stores.