Red Rye
Rock House Brewing

There were once manuscripts that read that rye had no place in culinary art or beverage making. Those people obviously never had a rye IPA. Its takes masterminds like Rockhouse to fuses the taste of American hops to the gritty rye grain for a peppery bite that gives hops an element that it cannot achieve on its own.

Red Rye kicks off with a slightly elevated pale amber than gold, held together with a typical dry hopped haze. A gentle and creamy froth brings a comforting scent of caramel, toasty, toffee, citrus, nutty and peppery qualities to the nose. But sweetness strikes the palate first with the grainy granola character of those pecan, caramel, toast and toffee tastes.

As the sweetness begins to fade, the hops take a slight command of the middle palate as orange, grapefruit, and a hint of pineapple offer a light marmalade character but with a brisk charge of pepper, peanut skins, light char and an overall soilish quality that the rye grains bring. Landing a slightly more bitterness than sweetness, the American pale ale carries and extended bite of pine needles, grapefruit peel and husken grit to the finish.

Medium bodied, crisp and refreshing, the malty dry beer holds onto a light caramelized sweetness to balance the bitter hops and spicy rye. A bittersweet finish extends with the moderate grip of hops and rye lasting nearly IPA-like. The rye amplifies the hops to a place where they cannot see on their own.