East Coast Hop Project: Rye Pale Ale With Pedersen Farms Hops
Flying Dog Brewery

 

 

5th Review of Rye Pale.
a) because of its red amber body, 1 finger head, and slathering of lace gets a 4.25.
s) Smell almost makes 4. Too subtle, but strong cocoa background along with lemon, rye, caramel and toffee malts.
t) Flavors blossom bigger with interesting twist of lemon/citrus hop and cocoa/caramel malt. Slightly spicy rye.
f) Mid, and chewy feel. Finishes smooth, clean and dry.
o) Could be one of the great rye pale ales.

This beer pours a muddy deep amber with a smallish head. The aroma is somewhat muted, with a little sweet red malt, cinnamon, pine, orange peel and some musky, faint, earthiness. The flavor is again rather muted and muddy, with pine, black tea, and cedar. The mouthfeel is fairly full with average carbonation. Overall I was fairly underwhelmed with this beer - rather understated, but lacking in nuance at the same time, it is fine, but very muddy.

This site has been on Sunday since 2000 (EDT), it is now just past 0300 & I don't feel like waiting for somebody to start NBS (Week 694) when I have my New Flying Dog Beer Sunday (Week 694) ready to roll! It took me most of the week, but I am within three (3) CANs of being caught up on my Tavour CANs. In the process of rolling through them, I noticed that I had a number of Flying Dog bottles that were worthy of a brewery horizontal today. This is the fifth of (potentially) eight (8).

From the bottle: "Revolutionizing the future of beer-centric agriculture, each beer in the East Coast Hop Project highlights a different farm and the regionally-viable hops they produce."; "A scientific approach to cultivation has led Pedersen Farms to thrive in the Finger Lakes. With 18 varieties of hops on 20 acres, Rick and Laura Pedersen were the first to grow hops commercially in New York since before World War II. Their Centennial, Mt. Hood and Chinook bring floral and citrus to a spicy and malty-sweet grist." For more of my musings on this subject, please reference the Pale Ale review of this series.

I Pop!ped the cap & began a slow, gentle pour since I had no idea of what to expect. An in-glass swirl raised two-plus fingers of foamy, rocky, deep-tan/light-brown head with moderate retention that left behind nice lacing when/as it fell. Color was a gorgeous Deep-Amber/Light-Copper to Copper (SRM = > 13, < 17) with NE-quality clarity. 8=O It was the shade of a former flame's hair! Nose was both earthy & spicy & this should be identified as a Rye Beer on here. There are plenty of APAs already, but not nearly enough Rye Beers, so I will both make a suggestion and review the beer as if it were already identified as one. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was spicy & peppery, but also cool & minty with an earthiness from the malt that made me think of an EPA. I fell instantly in love with this one! I cannot tell you when I got turned onto Rye Whisky, but it was right around the time of its recent resurgence. I love the way that the hops were interacting with the rye malt in this beer to give it a cool peppermint-y flavor which is NOT meant to evoke thoughts of Cool Colt. Instead, think of a cool, minty bite tempered by freshly-turned soil for its earthiness. The resulting mélange was evocative of a homegrown meal in the summer. Man, if they were to make this again & throw it in a still, they might give Anchor Old Potrero a run for its money. I kept licking my lips throughout, getting a pleasant mintiness each time. The malt really made its presence known in the taste, but as a counterbalance to the cool mint flavors throughout. I felt like I had been smoking one of my late Pops' menthol cigarettes! Finish was cool, dry & very tasty. I wish that I had another bottle of this one!

This is an exceptional rye pale ale. It pours light brown with soft foam that continues to develop. The aroma is a (good) unusual malty and Hops amalgam. Wonderful.

The taste is of rye and loads of Hops. It's not your usual American pale. The finish is strong and malty. The experience is like a much stronger brew.

Highly recommended.

 

Enjoy by 9/21/18. 12oz bottle poured into a tulip. Pours a copper/amber with great clarity and transparency with bubbles racing upwards; big fluffy light khaki head that slowly falls leaving great thick retention and sticky lacing. The aromas have hints of lemon, cocoa, caramel and toffee. Malts are there. Everything is subtle and balanced. The flavors are very clean, crisp and refreshing. More lemon along with some more cocoa, caramel and toffee. The rye is there, but it's not spicy at all. Moderate bitterness. Malts do their thing without dominating. Finishes clean and dry. Mouthfeel is great. It's on the lighter side of medium-bodied active carbonation. It's extremely smooth and easy to drink.

This is a nice pale ale. The craftsmanship is impressive. Once again, it's very clean, crisp and refreshing. Very enjoyable and fun to drink. Well done. I really like it.