What's your experience with rye beers?

This could have been my post! Great minds … I eschewed liquor for a LONG time, having had it lead to more run-ins with Shore Patrol, MPs, the Po-Po, etc. than I care to recall. Actually, it was the lack of recall & breaking out in handcuffs that put me off.

I gave up on Gin in 1985, having drank it to its dregs. I dabbled in rum in 1993, but it always struck me as too sweet. Vodka was just too bland. Bourbon tasted like death & still does. Rye, though …

When Rye Whisky began to make a comeback & I had some neat, I was struck by its pepperiness & its extreme dryness. Yum!

I inquired of brewers as to rye malt & the bottom line is that it is tough to work with. It breaks down very quickly & easily to become a gelatinous mass that requires an immediate cleaning of the brew kettle (unless a hammer & chisel is your idea of a good time). 15% used to be the upper limit, but some brave souls have begun ramping up as high as 50% just like taking a sports car out & seeing where it redlines. Phew!

Also, as a native Pennsylvanian with western PA leanings, rye led to the Whisky Rebellion. Rye has a history in PA, which is how I justify my occasional imbibing of rye whisky and my solid & ongoing love of Rye Ales.

Anybody ever even hear of a Rye Lager? Hmm.

 

I did some googling and there seems to be quite a few out there.

 

Tired Hands makes Hail Santa, a very tasty rye IPA, around Christmas. Real good brew; more bitter and spicy than a typical TH IPA.

 

I have only had maybe one or two rye ales or beer it was by black bridge brewery in Canada it was called Rye Ale it was hoppy not too strong only about 5.3% but it was bitter it had amber red like color to it with some head.

 

Being somehow a beer traditionalist most (if not all) of the rye beers I´ve had have been 'craft', but yet I rememember good to great experiences with at least a couple of them;

8 Ball Rye IPA from Beavertown (UK) was pretty great when fresh back in the day, and I am far from being a hophead. I am not sure about the spicy bit everyone is talking about but there was something about the body/feel/possibly flavour that I really liked, and worked pretty well beneath the realms of a modern IPA. Slightly soapy, even sticky, in a good way?

Another one I liked was Ich Bin Ein Berliner Ryesse from Alvinne/Laugar (the latter being local), which happened to be my first sour and is still on the shelves years later in spite of being a collab and well, a berliner. This is a honest brew with no added flavours in the sour/lactic side of things and the rye seems to work great in that environment also, along the wheat. I should revisit this one once more in fact.

So in my limited experience rye seems to be not only interesting flavour/body wise but versatile enough to be explored in different ways. All that said I´d really love to have a proper German roggenbier, of course, which I didn´t.

 

Sazerac Rye and Templeton 6 are game changers
4 Roses single barrel in the 30% rye range and amazing.

Founders red super fresh was a game changer for me.
OG Nelson was rye and barely known .

 

I've had a couple. I had mixed feelings between the two. I do feel that it has potential in the US. Both of mine were German.

 

Given the popularity of rye whiskey in America's past, I'm surprised it wasn't a bigger thing

 

There are quite a few of the style brewed in the US if you look up the style but, conversely, there are not that many reviews. I didn't see a bunch retired, if any?, but I reckon that the distribution may have been very limited.

 

This thread has reminded me of one of my favorite rye beers, Great Divide Hoss, a Märzen Oktoberfest lager with a delicious spicy rye twist. Excellent beer, used to be a staple of mine this time of year, sadly Great Divide does not seem to be distributed as widely here in North Florida as it used to be.

 

Hop Rod Rye from Bear Republic Brewing Co. was very good.

 

Wish that beer was still on the shelf, I bought it quite often as well.

 

I've seen it around *somewhere* but I can't remember where. Now that GD distributes to Casper, I hope that I get a chance to try it.

 

Had a rye brown from break side today that was fantastic.

 

I really enjoy the spicy character they deliver. Just this weekend I’ve been able to enjoy fresh Lux from Bissell Brothers and my local Carton’s Red Rye Returning. Nice change of pace from usual IPAs.

 

Just remembered about rye hipster brunch from oddside ales, rye stout. Tip tops in my book

 

Have you seen the GABF winners? That beer took Gold in the Specialty Beer category.

 

So, Rye malt and usually rye in general doesn’t produce spicy/peppery notes. People often forget what they’re tasting is Caraway seed. I’ve used rye malt porters, stouts and an American light lager. It helps out with a beers body.