Grizzly Paw Honey Rye
Old Schoolhouse Brewery

Rye beer is perhaps my favorite summer ale and a pint of Winthrop’s version served on their patio above the Chewuch River on an August afternoon is a rejuvenating pleasure. Winthrop adds local honey to this brew though its integration is too thorough to produce any noticeable effect. The body is bright lemon yellow – quite pretty actually – but as with most Winthrop ales it is tragically under-carbonated and makes no effort at suds.

Grizzly Paw is crisp, dry, ale-bodied, refreshing, and served year round. It is conceptually a winner, though its flat body makes it weak in delivery. A bit more charge would increase the quaff quotient significantly.

This was really well done because the honey was not to sweet and the rye left a solid slightly dry finish. The beer was clear and light yellow with some head but the nose was fresh honey with a rye backtone. A good summer beer that has some real complexity.

Amber - orange in color. Like the name says, the rye flavor that hits in the front of the mouth blends into a smoothing honey which makes for a quite unreal flavor profile. Bitterness was very subtle, which is probably a good thing or it could have easily been too much.