Brewmaster's Reserve Rye IPA
Dunedin Brewery

 

A – Flat-ish, with big soapy bubbles, but it is from a growler on its last legs. It looks good anyway. It is the rare translucent chestnut brown hue, as opposed to translucent mahogany. What foam there is, it is tan in color, and quite clingy.

S – It smells like a floral and dank IPA, not huge IBUs, but decently bitter.

T – Great use of rye backbone in place of the more common caramel malt, punctuated with piney, resinous hops. The flavor aspects of the hops are able to shine more without a caramel malt to subdue them.

M – Medium-bodied. It had a good amount of carbonation when the growler was filled.

D – A very good beer. Not heavy on the rye flavor, just hoppy and refreshingly bitter.

This is it. My first growler from Dunedin Brewery. Filled from the tap on 8/19, comsumed 8/22 after a long workday.

Poured into a pint glass, this one appears copper colored with a deep red tint. Perfect clarity with a half-inch head. Minimal scattered lace. I was hoping for more from my pour, but I am afraid this one has lost some carbonation.

The smell is decent. Not getting a ton from the hops, but they are there. Mildly citric. Lots of sweet butterscotch coming in from the malts. Again, I believe the 3-day journey from the brewery to my glass has caused this beer to lose some of its magic.

Taste is malty up front. Sweet with a crisp citrus edge. As it gets warmer, the spicy notes from the rye show up and help to balance out the brew.

Carbonation is still there, although a bit low. Still, this beer remains highly drinkable. Very well-balanced, but I still would prefer it right from the tap. Definitely a great beer to seek out at the peak of freshness.

After trying all that Dunedin Brewery had to offer over a couple of days this was my favorite even though I'm not usually overly partial to IPAs. A bright reddish tan with orange overtones. A strong head that actually lasted a few moments, decent lacing. A nice but not overpowering hoppy aroma. Crisp clean mildly bitter flavor with a clear malt presence to offset the strongly hopped brew to make well balanced refreshing beer.

Shared a pint of this with the wife at the Dunedin Brewery in Dunedin, Florida.

A bit darker orange than most IPAs, perhaps accounting for the rye presence, with both muted hops & rye in the nose.

Very good beer. The rye is strong enough to make it's presence felt, & the IPA portion of the brew is tasty. I have to admit going to Dunedin with hopes not high, but both beers & the food we had were very, very good, & we plan on going back.

Drinkability was excellent. Despite it being the middle of the day, both my wife & I wanted another & had to tear ourselves away while plotting to get back, soon. We did console ourselves with a Dunedin pint glass to tide us over. Excellent brew!