Tasting Room Series: Spicy Rye Ale
Boulevard Brewing Co.

12/16/17...medium dark amber. Fluffy white foam, about 1/4 inch high. Light malty nose, bready and sweet. Some vanilla creeps in. Mellow taste, rye drifts in and works against the malt, but rolls along. Light bodied. Rye influenced but hardly pronounced. Good.

12 oz bottle. Pours slightly hazy copper amber with a medium fluffy reddish white head that retains well and leaves little lacing.

The aroma is sweet grainy caramel malt and some fruity hops.

The flavor is sweet fruity caramel malt with with some rye and spicy hops. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with smooth carbonation.

Overall, a nice fruity hoppy rye.

 

I was elated & an attendee a few years ago at the Press fete in PHL for the announcement that Boulevard B.C. beers of KC, MO would now be available in PA! My enthusiasm has not waned in the least, but I have a sufficient amount of their beers in the Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody that I am conducting a Coup de Boule(vard) today for New Beer Sunday (Week 663). Hang on, it's going to be quite the ride!

From the bottle: "40 IBUs".

Man, it was tough to curb my enthusiasm when it came to this one! I REALLY dig Rye Beers, but I also did not feel like cleaning up a potential mess if an aggro pour caused an overflow. This being the case, I went with a slow, gentle pour, followed by a vigorous in-glass swirl. I watched in earnest as it puffed up with two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, tawny head with great retention that slowly fell, leaving sticky lacing in its wake. Color was Deep Amber/Light Copper to Copper (SRM = > 9, < 13) with NE-quality clarity. Nose had the distinct peppermint/wintergreen scent of Rye and once more, my mouth was set to watering. Mouthfeel was big, not quite creamy, but no small, shrinking presence in my mouth. I just let it roll around, warming and really enjoying the spiciness with which it was imparted. It is tough to fully describe the cool peppery spicy bite of rye, but imagine a Pep-O-Mint Life Saver sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper. That gets you close. This beer = that. Needless to say, it had a cool, refreshing, dry finish, almost like I had been using it for mouthwash. The cool mintiness remained in my mouth while the pepperiness left a burning sensation in my throat. It might be possible to screw up a Rye Beer, but I have not exbeerienced it as yet & this one may be towards the top.

 

 

 

 

 

This is another beer that delivers on its name. It's exactly as advertised: spicy and rye, although I would personally add "hoppy" to the name to be complete. There's a nice solid bitterness to this beer, seeming to come both from the rye and from the hops. The combination is well done.

The mouthfeel on this beer is light, with lots of carbonation.

 

 

L: Beautiful red gold, nice head, minimal lacing.

S: Heavy hops

T: Lots of hops, what an IPA would have been 5 years ago. A bit much for a rye

F: Meduim body, not lingering except hops taste

O: As one recently brewing a lot of different Roggen variants for sale at the brewpub, this one is a bit more IPA than I like. The rye gets hidden by hops, which is a shame.

Very drinkable and subtle indeed, not as spicy or rye'd as I would have gathered from the name. Rye is understated to me. Head bubbled up like a root beer float then laced the glass nicely. Much lighter than I had imagined.

5 oz on tap at brewery.

Clear bronze color. 1F head leaves lacing and a cap and ring. Not much to the nose, definite rye and yeast notes, but that's about it. Taste is very bready with distinctive rye. The tiniest note of chili on the finish, not enough but preferable to overdoing it. Light to medium body, pretty actively carbonated and well-constructed. Quite decent.

 

 

Poured from 12-ounce bottle into a stemmed cylindrical glass. In terms of appearance, this leaves nothing to be desired. The color is a slightly hazy dark copper, with a thick, brilliant white head that leaves lots of sticky lacing as it recedes after a few moments into a thin ring. Malt forward, with hints of black bread and dark toffee. Pleasantly bitter on the tongue, light in body, and a nice long-lasting peppery finish. I could see this pairing very nicely with German dishes and hearty foods such as beef, spicy sausage, and cheese. Overall, an excellent rye beer.

Hazy reddish in color with a small head and some lacing. Smells of malt and a slight hint of rye. More subtle on taste then I imagined it would be. Very balanced with a little of a spicy edge to it. Actually drinks really smooth. Very enjoyable