Cascade Hopped Rye 75
Bluegrass Brewing Co. - East St. Matthew's

Thanks to beerman207 for sharing this find with me. He picked up a growler of it from Party Town in Florence, KY. Review is from notes taken on 2/27/2010 and the pour is from the growler to a pint glass.

Appearance: Pours a deep coppery color and starts with a nice 1/2 finger of off-white head that fades pretty quickly to a very thin and uneven skim on the surface; shows little carbonation and it's slow moving; body is very clear and shows just a few spots of lacing on the sides of the glass.

Smell: Quite nice -- very hoppy (piney) and fresh, right up front; there is a very sweet presence that is almost like bubble gum; the nice malty presence leads me to believe that this is going to be a sweeter beer to help balance out the additional hop addition (?).

Taste: Matches the nose almost to a "T" -- nice fresh piney hoppiness and that sweet, almost bubble gum-like flavor; nice maltiness provides a solid backbone along with the toasted rye; not as sweet as the smell led me to believe it to be and the bitterness really leads the flavors ultimately and it lingers throughout the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: There is definitely more carbonation present that one would believe just by looking at it, but it's quite soft and smooth; body is creamy; light stickiness left on the roof of the mouth; it has a fairly dry finish but the flavors really linger on.

Drinkability: This is a solid offering from BBC -- bold flavors that are wonderful and balanced quite well; body is solid and just a tad heavier, but not overly so; the ABV feels a bit high for too much of this in a sitting (although I'm unsure how high it is), but it's still do-able if you don't plan on driving.