Harvest Moon Rye
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

Tapped on 10/22/07

Appearance: Arrived in a standard pint glass. Dark amber in color with copper hues topped with a tightly foamed off-white head that fades slowly. Plenty of sticky lacing lines the glass as the beer disappears from the glass.

Smell: Malty with hints of caramel and brown sugar with and underlying spiciness reminicent of black pepper. A mild earthy hoppiness is in the background.

Taste: Starts with a healthy dose of malt. Candy like sweetness with caramel and brown sugar. A raisin like fruit quality also prevails. The middle is where the rye comes into play with a black pepper like spiciness adding a liveliness to the beer. Finishes with a mild, earthy like hop bitterness that doesn't linger to long on the tongue.

Mouthfeel: Medium in the mouth and nicely carbonated. Dry in the finish.

Drinkability/Notes: Bought on draft while at lunch. Harvest Moon Rye is very drinkable. A nice malt backbone with plenty of caramel malts with spicy, black pepper, rye malt undertones. Hops are mild with an earthiness but this beer is about the rye and the caramel malts. Super easy to drink and at 5.3% abv makes for a good session beer. Glad I had the opportunity to try this beer before it was gone. A fine beer from the folks at Rock Bottom. Definitely recommended. Seek and Enjoy.

My 3rd sample at the Barrelhouse Brewfest last fall. It has an amber-light caramel color, not much in the way of bubbles. Aroma is kind of orangey, giving away the hop presence to expect. The taste I rather liked, Somewhat fruity from the rye mixing with the hops perhaps, good stuff. A solid and satisfying hop finish. Very nice beer overall.

Tasted at the Barrelhouse Brewing Company Microbrew Fest on November 9. Dark amber color with a thin head. Sweet aroma, with a hint of citrus. Impressions of grain and brown sugar in the flavor. Not too bad.