Fire Road Red Rye IPA
Seven Saws Brewing Company

Fruity, peppery rye, grainy spice, toasted bready malts, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, some cherry, dried fruits, apricot, orange citrus, grapefruit, lemon, and earthy herbal grassy pine

Draft at wauchusett lodge
Fair creamy thick head with good retention, soapy lacing, hazy auburn to brownish color

Nose sweet toasted reddish malt, biscuity, bread crust notes, spicy fruity rye, earthy spicy hops

Taste hops out front, earthy spicy, fruity citrus, spicy fruity rye, a bit of vanilla spice and oak barrel, possibly a bit of unclean tap line I think, toasted biscuity reddish malt, med bitterness, drier finish with a med high spicy hop bitterness

Mouth is med to a bit fuller bod, med prickly carb

Overall decent rye ipa, med to try to get some cans to see if it was a dirty tap line or just all the esters

16 oz can acclimated to 50°F and poured into a stange glass.

Pours a clear, rich copper color, looks a lot like what you imagine when you think of a penny, very nice color. Produces a 4 finger sudsy tan head, leaving average lacing.

Initial aroma is strong freshly cut grass and sweet toffee. Perhaps a slight peppery kick. After agitating the toffee comes forward, becoming more like caramel and more malty.

Initial taste before swallowing is sweet toffee, malt a lot like malt syrup, and a growing grassy hop bitterness. After swallowing I get the same tastes in the same order, with the bitterness gaining strength by the aftertaste, gaining a light floral quality that reminds me a lot of jasmine, it feels very at home when combined with the other tastes. The first half of the experience contains the majority of the maltiness. The second contains some malt and the sweetness, and the end and aftertaste contains the hoppy bitterness. I feel that perhaps present in the maltiness is an umami sensation, can't tell for sure but it seems similar and would partly explain why I'm enjoying it so much.

Mouthfeel is both smooth and creamy, aided by a frothy feel from the carbonation. Slightly viscous, it drinks with a little effort but it's very pleasing.

Overall I was thrilled with this one. I found the malt, toffee, and sweetness present to taste grand, and although it seems like an odd combination, they worked very well with the bitterness that comes after. The tastes transition well during the process, perhaps because I feel that they pair well, but it's pleasant nonetheless. I admit it's abrupt going from sweet toffee to hop bitterness, and that I don't expect to taste hops in something amber/red/copper, but I found it very enjoyable, and it exceeded my expectations.

I will definitely buy again, likely in packs rather than singles. I will likely recommend it, definitely will if the style ever comes up in conversation.

Pours a deep red amber color, lovely. Malty, grainy aroma, fairly subtle. Taste is leaning toward the malty side but the hops and rye balance it out nicely and prevent this from being a malt bomb. The rye is definitely discernible and is a nice co-host to the hops, I'm really liking this, extremely drinkable and leaves me wanting more. What more could I ask for!

 

Reddish amber color with a mild haze. Lasting head which leaves a blanket of lace with thicker rings.

Bready malt aroma. There's a distracting brewery floor nose as well.

The mostly malty taste is a bit dry (like a Rye should be). Moderate body with a barely elevated effervescence. There's a hop bitter finish. The aftertaste is short and well blended.