Rye Chai Cha
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

Blending, spicing, aging and brewing shows that all cards are on the table when making a chai accented imperial stout.

Dark and russet brown, the barrel bleaching of Rye Chai Cha reduces its appearance from black to rusty hues. Floating a deep cream froth, the nose is a melange of sorghum sweetness, dark fruit, chai spice and light pastry to suggest something of oatmeal raisin cookie. And much of that sweetness gravitates onto the early palate with brown sugar, caramel, light molasses and deep cola flavors.

As the flavors continue to open up on the middle palate, the sweetness gives way to a toasty, roasty, coffee-like flavor with toasted pecans, light chocolate and the unmistakable earthen grit of rye. Spicy, drying and playfully bitter, the taste trends earthy and soilish with a bitter coffee bite, propped up with tannic oak, alcohol spice and the bite of rye and hops.

Full bodied but relaxed and offering a drying sense of drinkability, the beer is a pleasant ale that shares characteristics of stout, Belgian-styled quads and British old ale.

Fantastic beer.

 

Bottle pour - deep dark brownish black with quickly dissipating beige head leaving scattered lacing. Nose is mostly chai spice with a hint of malt and barrel wood. Taste follows with cinnamon, cardamom, clove, a bit of chocolate and barrel wood. The spices linger on a fairly creamy finish. You should really like chai to enjoy this one.

 

 

Dark brown, thin head

Clove or cinnamon, or both.

Sorta sweet, lot of spices to pick out. Graham cracker, some roasted malt but second to spices. Nothing off putting, not quite up my alley.

Ought to be thicker.