Belgian Rye IPA
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

From 12/23/14 notes. Sampler on tap in the Ardmore location.

Pours a clear amber color with one inch of off white head and moderate carbonation eivdent. Lots of grains, apples, rye, spice, wheat, and some fruity malts. Medium body and low carbonation, easy to drink.

Overall I liked this one a lot; one of their better beers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Served in a Weizen Glass.

A: Clear amber-orange with a thin vivid white head that stayed exactly the same for the duration. Beautiful sticky lacing all over the inside of the glass. I was really impressed with the overall appearance of this beer.

S: Floral, hoppy, and a bit of spice. Pretty good.

T: Light sweetness and moderate bitterness. Rye malt flavor is wonderful. A bit of citrus and spice just like the nose.

M: Medium bodied with fizzy carbonation. Slightly dry but pretty smooth.

O: I really liked this ale from Iron Hill. I was worried that being an IPA, I wouldn't notice the rye character, but that wasn't a problem. Will definitely try this again.

On tap at Iron Hill Media. Served in a 16 ounce standard shaker pint glass.

Beers pours a bright, clean clear coppery orange with a finger of slightly off-white head.

Given the description on the beer menu of this beer as quite spicy, I was really expected the rye to commit to a full out assault, but I was disappointed with the aroma. There's some rye notes, but not a lot and a fairly meager piney hops presence and nothing in the aroma indicates anything Belgian to me.

Taste was similarly disappointed. I was able to pick up the Belgian yeast. Strong on cloves, bananas and a little bubble gummy sweetness. The rye, again, was not that assertive nor were the hops. A pretty bland drinker.

The mouthfeel was middling with an ample amount of carbonation. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

Overall, I was fairly disappointed with this one. I was expecting a spicy, flavorful beer and ended up with a bland one. A rare miss, in my opinion, for Iron Hill.

On tap @ Iron Hill Media on 10/16/11. Served in a tulip glass.

Pours a clear copper, topped with a finger width cap of frothy bright-white head. This stays robust, leaving back a sticky latticework of creamy lacing down the sides of the glass. The aroma smells fresh and floral, with leafy citric hop character that pops, and extra notes of pine that work it's way in. There is some more malty sweetness here but it’s mostly coming for the rye, which leaves a spicy and dry feel in the back of the nostrils. As this warms, more character from the yeast emerges, giving the nose an overall feel of mellow spice, rye, fruit, and bitter hops. I’m digging this.

The taste has a fresh and bright feeling earthy citric flavor to it that spreads some moderately bitter rind and an overall leafy feel out into the mouth. There is some caramel sweetness present here underneath but it’s the rye that sticks out to me the most, tightening the profile up, and giving this a stiff grainy backbone for those hops to bounce off of and keep that bitterness in check. The Chimay yeast takes over the backend of this though, with a crisp spiciness (and even some softer fruit flavor as this warms) that finishes this with a steady dryness that sticks to the tongue, along with some lingering pine from the hops. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and sharp on the tongue but then moves out across the palate with more of a smooth creamy slickness. I’m liking the 6% ABV as well here, as it’s gives the body enough presence to hold up to the myriad of flavors here while also keeping this pretty accessible feeling with minimal alcohol warmth.

Man, I really enjoyed this. The rye, American hops, and Belgian yeast all pulled the profiles here in a bunch of different directions at once but it all worked in the end for me, with this having an overall dry, spicy, fruity, and leafy character to it that kept me interested the whole way through the glass. Tack on a fairly easy drinking 6% body that keeps this smooth and you’ve got a winner in my book. Well done.