Honey Ginger Rye
Cascade Brewing / Raccoon Lodge & Brewpub

 

A: Poured a clear deeper yellow color with a bit of carbonation and a little white cap that slowly dissipates

S: Little hints of honey, ginger and oddly enough some lemon zest

T: Has a very unique and distinguishing immediate taste. I noticed loads of ginger, some honey, lemon zest, a bit of hay, and funk. This beer is more flavor than sour. It strikes a balance, even my wife enjoyed it and she is not a sour fan. I received very little rye on thie taste but did pick up on lime at times.

M: Lighter body, little booze, crisp, a bit effervescent

O: Pretty darn good.

On tap at the Barrel House.

Mildly hazy orange yellow with a thin, white head that recedes to a ring. This really does smell like a honey rye ginger should. Fresh ginger and floral honey are present. The ginger character is exceptional, smelling like fresh, young ginger, mildly sweet and quite mellow. Some rye is present, but this beer is mostly about the honey and ginger, refreshingly so. The palate is mildly medicinal, but in a good way. Floral honey and ginger are all that's noticeable with some rye, lactic tartness andd mild spice. Alcohol is well-hidden, though it does add a mild spice character. Lemony citrusness ties it all together. Light in body with medium-high carbonation (why?!), the finish is drying with some lactic acid, ginger and lime. Excellent stuff, I'd love to drink this again.

On tap at the barrel room. Was trying to decide between the apple pie wild ale and this, and Biscuit convinced me to go with this one. Excellent recommendation Biscuit (as usual).

The beer pours a fairly light gold color with good head retention and lacing. On the nose, the intermix of rye and ginger is pretty amazing, and it plays nice with the underlying honey aroma. However, as good as this beer smells, on the palate this beer is flat out amazing. It's as if someone made a wild ale out of a high end gingerale. The ginger and honey combination in the flavor profile is flat out fantastic, with just enough rye to add another intertesting note to that flavor blend. Mouthfeel is light and tingling, with the beer finishing with a wash of sweet honey and ginger. Damn, but this beer is delicious.

Just an amazing beer. Have never had anything remotely similar to this stuff. Incredible...

Served out of the barrel.

Appearance: Pours a hazy apricot color with two fingers of pure white head. Nice retention and pretty decent lacing.

Smell: I can definitely detect the rye malts used in this beer. The spicy character from the rye is easily found. I also get quite a lot of honey, and less ginger. All of the components of the name are certainly apparent. There is a great funkiness to this one too. Pretty light and without any sour component. Very nice.

Taste: The rye malts really take hold on the front end. A bit spicy, and it really combines nicely with the honey and ginger components, along with a bit of oak. The ginger shows up much more on the palate than it did on the nose. The amount of funk in the beer is perfect. It's fairly light, and doesn't have any lemony or sour notes.

Mouthfeel/Overall: The body is pretty light with low to moderate carbonation. A bit spritzy and extremely refreshing. I really enjoyed this beer overall. It's a bit of an oddity, but Cascade pulled it off nicely. Probably my favorite beer that I had on this particular night.