Rye Heat
Thunder Canyon Brewery

Poured into a pint glass, the appearance was a dark red color with a bar pour’s kind of slim white head. Lacing seems to be barely there. The aroma had some malty sweet nuts and then a slight spicy rye. Some sweetness from the rye opens up and brings out a sly earthiness to it. Balancing grassy hops are there. The flavor balances nicely between the rye malts and the sweet nuts. Earthiness and grassiness is there as well. Balanced sweet to spicy aftertaste with the same sort of finish. On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a fair sessionability about it. Carbonation was fairly light. ABV felt fine too. Spiciness seemed good and tamed by the malts, moved nicely along my tongue. Overall, nicely done amber ale reinventing a style not as many people like these days. I would have again.

 

rye heat seems like an odd name for a beer thats not even five and a half percent abv, but i get it, there is a peppery flash to the rye malt that can be seen as hot to unfamiliar palates. this beer is cool though, its an amber malt base, with a dense rye profile in nose and taste that to me is less black pepper and more of a pungent tannic grain thing, but it seems intentional, and works with the sweeter caramel malt side of it. light body too, cool to have this much grain character in a session beer that has virtually no sweetness to it. what i like is the body and the carbonation together. its satisfying but drinkable, nice for fall. its not the most dynamic thing in the world, and i wouldnt mind seeing the rye even more intense in it. its a cool project though, and a solid introduction to this brewery for me.

the bartender said it was his favorite so i went with it...

hazy dark amber pour with a small off white head and moderate spotty lacing.

the aroma is pretty much just toasted grain and caramel until it warms up... then it starts to show floral nuances and sourness, soap and cinnamon which are usually thrown out by rye or at least caraway seeds when the are toasted.

the flavor is almost a mirror of the aroma... caramel, lots of grain and an earthy slightly sour finish. when it warms it shows floral notes and a distinct lingering aftertaste of rye... like i just took a bite of toasted whole grain rye bread. this is fairly full bodied... actually, it coats the palate. it would be quite smooth, soft and luscious if it were not for the prickly carbonation and spiciness.

not a whole bunch going on aside from the rye. (i guess that's the point?) ... neat-o...6/4/6/4/13/3.3

Described by the waitress as a Rye Lager that is both spicy and tart, sounds interesting or at least weird.

The beer arrives with a fairly hazy (though you can see through parts of it) amber color that has a reddish tint to it. The head is barely there and forms a ring of foam that hugs the sides of the glass and is tan colored. The aroma is quite grain focused; it is a touch spicy, with a wheat cracker aroma, a touch of muddled grain and a big (in fact the most prominent note by far), whole grain bread crust note that has been lightly browned.

The beer has a prickly carbonation to it and a medium body that has a fair amount of fullness to it. The beer definitely sticks to the palate with a rye induced viscosity, but the ample carbonation helps to cut this a bit. Solid whole grain flavors remind me more of whole-grain crackers than bread, but there is a touch of a browned bread crust flavor. There is actually a light sourness to this beer that is noticeable up front, it is definitely surprising, but somewhat subtle. This tartness helps the beer to come off as pretty dry despite the viscous fullness. The carbonation is retained pretty well because of the viscosity too.

This beer is dominated by the characteristics of rye. There is very little to no hop presence (which is probably the point). As it warms up the spiciness of the rye softens up just a bit and the mouthfeel becomes fuller as the carbonation slowly dissipates. It seems to pick up a touch of sweetness as well, but still remains quite dry for a beer of this thickness. Definitely interesting.