Scratch Beer 18 - 2009 (Triple Rye IPA)
Tröegs Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

Bottle thanks to Greg.

A: The beer pours a lightly hazed orange color with a thin white head.

S: Orange and rye are very prominent. Grass and pine hop notes are also big players. A bit of bread and caramel malts give this one sweetness. There's just a light floral note to it, too.

T: Rather pronounced pine and grass hop flavors which provide a substantial bitterness. Plenty of rye flavor and a nice citrusy character to it, too. Mostly grapefruit peel in terms of the citrus.

M: Medium in body with a medium to high carbonation.

O: Good, but the bitterness and rye flavors are sort of harsh.

Poured a golden orange with yellow highlights that had a thin head and left very little lacing sticking to the glass. It had some weird funky dirty feet aroma with faint rye and mostly malts taking over the nose. It did however have lots of caramel character as well. The taste actually had hop character with citrusy accents, piney, rye, and malts notes to balance out the flavors. The brew was medium in body with a good amount of carbonation which had a sweet, citrusy, mild pine, and malty finish. Drank real good and held up alright for a rye beer but it did seem like its getting maltier.

12oz bottle poured into a Portsmouth tulip. Obviously this beer is past its prime, but with that said...let's review.

A - Pours a suspended particulate laden dirty amber color with a 1/2 finger of dense, creamy off-white foam. Light lacing left on the glass.

S - Spicy rye, maltose, lightly floral and perfumey hops, some graininess and bready character.

T - Heavy rye, malty sweetness, caramel and toffee, some grassiness, fruity esters, a bit yeasty. Overall on the sweet and malty side...could be partly due to age diminishing hop contributions. Bitterness that is there is crisp and lingers into the aftertaste.

M - Medium bodied with a healthy medium + carbonation level. It is malt balanced with strong spicy rye character and complementary sweet flavors. Perhaps a bit too much sweet that gives a very minor cloying feel to it.

D - Even with some age on it, this isn't a bad beer. Quite sessionable, especially if you are into malt balanced beers. I lean more towards the hoppy styles, so this is a bit outside of my desired range. Not bad, but not something I'm wishing they'd brew again.

Reviewed from notes.

Pours a nice light orange color with a white head and a decent amount of lacing on the way down. The nose brings some zesty rye as well as orange, grapefruit, and other citrus. Some good hop notes and a touch of sweetness. The taste brings some more grapefruit and tangerine along with a bit of spice and sweetness. Nice body with good carbonation. A fairly unique beer. Seems like Troegs just does not fail with these Scratch beers.

Thanks to CaptinRedBeard for this one! Always looking for Scratch series beers so I was excited for this one!

Poured into Sam Adams Sensory glass.

Pours 1 finger of beige head that fades to a thin layer. Very slight lace. Color is a hazed harvest orange.

Aroma: This almost smells like a belg dub. It has the rye but it is very spiced. Maybe some brown sugar, a bit of nut meg, and some fruits showing. Pretty good, actually.

Taste: Rye and the spice flavors that go along with the rye show (rye beers always seem to show spice flavors). It has a clove/nut meg spice profile with some bready malts and earthy hops showing. A hint of alcohol with some fruit flavors. Very unique.

Mouthfeel: Spiced and smooth. Medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. Ends clean with a nice spiced rye flavor. Very nice.

Overall, this is another solid beer from the scratch series. A lot of good flavors and a good drinkability as well. Very happy to have had this one!

A - Pours a cloudy rusty orange with very little foam and lots of floating particles

S - hints of rye and orange and lemon citrus hops

T - malty, lots of rye along with a nice citrusy hop bite in the finish

M/D - dry feeling in the mouth, decently carbonated, not my favorite scratch beer, or style

Thanks goes out to Hophead101 for this brew.

Pours a nice cloudy golden yellow/light amber color, very nice carbonation, with a very nice thick one-finger creamy off-white head, with some very nice thick sticky lacing left behind. The nose is malty, with a nice rye note, and some caramel. The taste is slightly sweet, malty, nice rye note, slightly bitter, and caramel. Medium body, the finish is slightly dry/bitter. Drinkable, a very nice brew, quite different than the #25 in looks and taste, but still a tasty brew.

Poured from the bottle a cloudy, muted apricot color with a thin and wet off-white head.

Aroma of caramel malts, tangerine, grapefruit, biscuit, earth, and just a hint of rye.

The rye shines thru in the taste much more than in the aroma. Tangerine, toasted caramel malts, candy sugar, biscuit, and a bit of earthiness follow.

Medium-bodied, sticky, and moderately carbonated.

Overall, an enjoyable beer from Troegs.

Thanks to Deuane for sending this as an extra in Growling.

A: Really nice looking beer. Mix of ref and orange with a touch of honey thrown in Less than a half finger of white head with no lacing at all. Carbonation was minimal with a few scant bubbles making their way to the top.

S: The spice of the rye comes at you more than anything else. Little bit of oxidization creeping in. The malt has that faded smell and just a touch of wet cardboard. It is just in the fringes though so drink up if you have em.

T: It is a nice mix of hops and that spicy rye malt that I love so much. The aftertaste just keeps going.

M: The mouthfeel is a little sticky but quite thin at points. I think it has changed quite a bit from it's release from reading reviews.

D: I love rye beers and I make no apologies for doing so. It reminds me of old habit in a way which is never a bad thing. Thanks again to Deuane never thought I would get this one.

One smooth pour fit the entire bottle into a pint glass... with a little delicious foam slurpage to prevent overflow. The result is marvelously murky apricot as the yeast slowly ooze in a downward direction. A thick slice of golden ecru colored cream looks good up top, as does an extensive amount of sticky lace.

Scratch 18 is essentially Scratch 12 (an American IPA) with a slight change in the hop bill and 25% of the malt bill as rye. Specific varieties include Mt. Hood, Chinook and Warrior. The aroma is earthy and spicy and citric, which is exactly what was expected given the ingredients.

None of the beers in this series have let me down, and this one doesn't either. It's too bad that I didn't get to review S-18 when superfresh because it's still pretty hoppy. It tastes like the brewers used just the right amount of rye as well. Black pepper notes emerge as the beer warms. These guys are talented, no doubt about it.

Flavors include lightly toasted rye bread covered with woodsy herbs, assorted spices and plenty of bitter grapefruit peel. Scratch 18 would be called a 'Rye PA' by most breweries. Alcohol adds plenty of underlying power and flavor intensity, but is barely noted on the palate.

The mouthfeel score was one notch lower in the bottom half of the bottle. Over time, however, it has gained size, volume and creaminess. That's a pretty neat trick.

It's almost uncanny how the brothers Trogner create delicious Scratch Beer after delicious Scratch Beer. Scratch 18 is a more than worthy addition to the series and is pure pleasure to drink. Lots of American hops and spicy rye malt... what could be better than that?

Thanks to AgeofQuarrel for sending this my way as an extra in a late summer trade. Draining this one out of the bottle on yet another dreary October day, the wife alseep, girls in the basement. Beer time!

Poured into my "Saints & Sinners" chalice as a muddy orange mass, through which nothing but shadows pass. Lots of fluffy white with even a gentle pour. Smells like rye & a surprising note of alcohol.

Scratch #18 brings a big rye stick to the party, but it's festooned with hops. The rye is out front; big, sticky, stinky, aggressive. The hops lurk behind, even after seven months, & provide a muted but biting countereffect. Lower on the scale is a bit of primordial earth, the malts perhaps providing an almost saison-like must. The overall effect is intriguing, & the two primary tastes come as close to cancelling one another out as they do to balancing. Very dry beer, that makes me want to keep reaching, or clear my throat. For 7% plus this is pretty mellow.

Good beer. A bit disappointed in the Scratch series...all of them have been good but not great. I'd rather see some terrible crap & some home runs (like their regular lineup, some of which are fantastic) but it puzzles me that they're all just "pretty good". Amp it up & get out that uppercut swing, please!

Appearance: Pours a cloudy apricot nectar color with foamy, one finger head that leaves a few spots of lace

Smell: Floral and spicy, with a bit of citrus rind and a touch of biscuity malt

Taste: Biscuity malt, up front, but by mid-palate, the flavor profile shifts to pithy citrus with a spicy rye kick; after the swallow, while the biscuity malt provides the flavor backbone, the spicy rye and hops aspect add a nice bitter kick to the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with moderate, but prickly, carbonation

Drinkability: Kept in the fridge, this bottle may have lost a bit of the hoppy flavors it held in its youth, but the balance between the spicy rye and the hops makes it a very drinkable ale right now

Scratch 18 pours a cloudy orange-amber body beneath a short head of creamy off-white foam. Yeast can be seen settling while tiny bubbles stream upwards past them. It looks almost like a weizen. The head retention is excellent, no doubt buoyed by those tiny rising bubbles, and it leaves some very nice rings of thin lace about the glass.

In the nose one detects spiciness, some yeasty fruitiness, and a bit of caramel in the malt.

The flavor is much fuller, with a burst of spiciness and a solid bitterness anchoring it. It's similar to an extra special bitter or IPA, but with the kind of floral and spicy flavor of the rye added in. It's a little wheaty as well, and perhaps a touch grassy and leafy with hops. Despite its solid bitterness, malt still lingers a bit in the finish, but it's spicy, and not at all "sweet". The alcohol never shows.

Interesting, and very well put together. Sometimes rye beers can be just a bit too spicy and they become overpowering, but this is balanced and drinkable. Well done!

An extra received in a trade somewhere along the road. Consumed on 9/13/2009 and poured into a snifter. The beer appears dark golden with a fizzy white head that quickly recedes. I guess this is an IPA brewed with 25% rye.

The nose has a lot of citrus, consisting of strong peach, orange, tangerine, lemon, and grapefruit. The fruit is vibrant and smells great. The beer smells quite sweet, with noticeable sugar. The rye imparts subtle spiciness.

The flavor is sweet citrus with a moderate level of bitterness throughout. The citrus is mainly orange and peach. Alcohol is noticeable. The beer is very sweet for an IPA. The rye is noticeable in the somewhat spicy and bitter finish.

A 12 oz bottle from my beer fridge pured into a snifter glass.

A: The rye beer is a brilliant amber orange color, content to sit still in my glass. The ale retains its translucence, adding to the glow. A small head, negligible even, has pooled around the edges of the glass.

S: Citrus hops and a moderate rye presence start things off when the ale is cold. As it warms, caramel emerges to match with the rye. The breadiness isn't overpowering, just a nice touch.

T: The hops, which were dominant in the draught version, has subsided nicely, mellowed out to allow the rye more time in the spotlight. Rye is spicy and bready. Hops are softer citrus, softness being relative to the stronger hop presence when fresh. The carbonation is ample, a cleansing effect that adds the body.

M: The mellowing of the hops has improved the taste, allowing more rye to peep through. The finish is a malt-centric ale, the hops having since faded.

D: A decent beer when fresh, this one has rounded out nicely. A good rye beer, no more no less.