Super Fly Rye
Block 15 Brewing - Southtown Tap Room

Look: Burnt orange, leaning red and slightly opaque with a foamy off-white head that quickly builds and slowly settles to a lid, leaving great lacing behind
Aroma: Tangelos, pine sap, orange, fir needles, rye, freshly baked bread, and light wafts of raspberry
Taste: Conifers joins forces on the opening and immediately hit the palate with resinous and sappy pine, fir, and wet forest that are soon followed by citrus fruits. Sharp orange, tangelo, and grapefruit are all present and spicy rye interweaves throughout the very solid and deep malt base. Closes with rye, pine, and a nice bite
Mouthfeel: Full, clean, medium-high carbonation, and dry on the finish
Overall: This stuff is awesome. As a huge fan of all things rye in beer and a personal favorite of the old-school sub-style IPAs, I knew I’d like this, sought it out, and attest that it’s as good as my own hype for it was. Tasty citrus/conifer dominant hops, a nice malt backbone, and plenty of rye. Sign me up for this beer anytime

 

16oz can

Pours two massive fingers of slightly off-white head into my Willi. Retention is very nice, and after a few minutes there is still a sturdy finger of head remaining. Lacing is quite nice. Body is a dark orange/copper color. Clear, but low visibility, with almost no bubbles coming up. Looks great.

Nose has some caramel maltiness, and a distant spice. A pretty faint nose that opens up a little over time. Has potential.

Flavor has a pretty hefty malt backbone, with some spicy rye. Hop flavor is pretty minute. Has a lot more flavor out of the can.

Carbonation is on the lower side, this has a pretty smooth feel to it for an IPA, but that pairs with the maltiness. Body is medium. Bitterness is actually somewhat low. Slightly sweet, but just barely - well balanced. A nice mouthfeel.

Drinkability is good.

Some stone fruit and deeper malt notes come out over time. Overall this has more of a punch out of the can, but the smoother glass version has its moments too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had this on cask over the weekend.

A: The cask pour had very little head.

S: Sweet smell with a hoppy overtone.

T: Sweet up front with a hoppy finish. Really quite nice.

M: Nice, the cask really creates a creamy, drinkable beer.

O: Great beer on cask, break beer on tap, great beer from a growler.

 

Growler fills are sweet. Especially when $7. Especially when the local fill-depot is a 30-block walk.

Fellow BA Reino had been ranting and raving about this beer, so I was excited when I heard it was getting tapped this past week for the 1st anniversary for Block 15. I called him to ask if this second batch was as good as the first, and sounding beer-draggled, he said it was good but he'd had alot to drink before. OK.

Glugs out of the vessel with a look of heft, a slow-growing head that keeps a nice cap of skim as the keyboard action dictating this jiggles it. Nice "dredged beach" articles of lace around my Nostradamus chalice. From a distance it looks like a well-worn penny, redder around the edges.

Nose is clean, fresh, vibrant. Dry-hops pop up from the glass initially, but I detect the rye too. My brain fears for its life as Blue Dot images are conjured - one I love too much. Those two strong elements combine to form a spicy-smelling beer, in fact I detect an herb I can't quite put my finger on (coriander seed?) but its pulling me in to taste it. As Reino mentioned below me, the smells are delightful but don't necessarily have a pungent quality. This could also be blamed on the walk from B15 to my house, sloshing in the bookbag.

As far as flavor goes, wow, DRY! I find it rather novel that beer geeks, like wine geeks, have taken a strict NO SUGAR! policy in their beloved tipple(s). Me, I get that, but I like a spectrum of styles that are supposed to be sweet so I don't always dislike that quality...and this one might need a little more candy flavor to bounce off the hops. I think that Block 15's IPA is better than Total Domination because its has the juicier, more enjoyable cuhumulone-feel of the two, while this one goes more for the hop-jugular.

I also slightly disagree with Reino's assesment of the beer as having a slick mouthfeel. It goes down a little prickly, and that's not from the carbonation which is itself low. That said, the beer belies its nearly 8% heft. Its so dry, and borderline-astringent assertive hoppiness ensures that your tongue will get a sloughin'.

In a way this strong bitterness is a dual-edged sword; less drinkability initially, but as the tongue dries out (as it will) you like it more. After I'm through the first glass, I'm seeing this a slimmer, slightly rougher West Coast "Red's Rye". Lets see what damage we can do to the growler...

From the brewer: Super Fly is 22% Rye malt, 7.5% alc/vol, 70 IBU's. Hops include: columbus, crystal, chinook, and cascade. Dry hopped exclusively with cascades.

$7 growler fills on Sundays. I have 64oz of this brew all to myself to review. I'm watching Beerfest to keep me motivated.

Appearance- *Poured from my growler into my Duvel tulip*
A fairly aggressive pour produces two fingers of beige-white head that does a nice job of hanging around, and leaves good lacing while it does so. The body is a gorgeous, full mahogany with some red and orange highlights when held to light.

Smell- The cascade hops shine while blending with the rye malt, resulting in a sweet and spicy nose. I get notes of sweet citrus fruits, pine, and pepper (rye?). All the aromas are very pleasing, but I wish they would bash me in the face a bit more.

Taste- Much like the nose, this beer is a very pleasant mix of sweet and spicy. The malty sweetness comes out fighting and hangs through the middle until piny, spicy hops runs it out of town. Bitter, resiny hops linger on the tongue long after the beer's gone down. The rye definitely makes a great addition to the beer by adding its own spiciness. The other malts used do a commendable job trying to balance this brew, but Super Fly is very much a hop forward rye beer, and I'm loving it. It reminds me a lot of Hop Rod Rye, and I'd think that anyone brewing a hoppy rye ale would welcome the comparison.

MF- I don't know if it's the rye's doing, but this is one creamy bitch. Incredibly smooth and full bodied, which bodes well in such a spicy brew. The finish is dry, and the spicy hops linger on my tonsils.

Drinkability- This growler will be no problem at all. My tongue might hurt a bit tomorrow, but that's a consequence I'm willing to accept. This might be my favorite Block 15 beer, and from what I hear, I'm not the only fan. Come on Corvallis BA's, let's stop being lazy and review more of Block 15's beers!