• Brewery: Bear Republic Brewing Company
• Country: USA
• Style: American IPA / Rye Beer
• ABV: 8 %
• Size: 355 ml
• Bought from: Gift
• Beer Advocate
• RateBeer

I haven’t tasted any commercial beers made with rye before, only a homebrew by my homebrewing neighbor Juhani (thanks for the tasting, the beers were both interesting and tasty!), but I am very interested in doing so, since I have heard that the rye lends a spicy character that sounds intriguing. Bear Republic are a craft brewery from California, and have tried their Racer 5 and Big Bear Black Stout before which were really nice. I wasn’t able to find any official information on the ingredients used in the brew, but homebrew recipes circulating around the web suggests it contains Pale Ale, Rye, Munich, Wheat and Carapils malt, and Columbus, Centennial and Amarillo hops. The IBUs should be around 80, so this is bordering to an Imperial IPA. Lets see how it tastes!

[easyreview title=”Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye” cat1title=”Appearance” cat1detail=”The beer pours with a clear dark amber, almost brown, color, and a large, but compact, cream-colored head is formed, that slowly collapses leaving drapes of lacing along the glass. Beautiful appearance.” cat1rating=”5″ cat2title=”Smell” cat2detail=”The aroma contains both caramelly and malty tones, lending tones of a sugary and almost raisiny fruitiness, combined with a piney, resiny and even grapefruity hoppiness.” cat2rating=”4″ cat3title=”Taste” cat3detail=”The flavor begins with a caramelly maltiness, drawing to tones of brown sugar and again an almost raisiny fruitiness. These are joined by a resiny, grapefruity and dank hoppiness, combined with minimal peppery tones (is this the rye?). The finish is semi-dry and quite bitter. The flavors are quite balanced, and this beer definitely has a strong malt backbone to back up the bitterness. The alcohol is well hidden behind the complex flavors present.” cat3rating=”4″ cat4title=”Mouthfeel” cat4detail=”The beer has a medium-full body and medium carbonation level, making it quite easy to drink. This is definitely more of a slow sipper, but still very enjoyable.” cat4rating=”4″ summary=”A really nice beer, featuring a strong malty backbone combined with a resiny and dank hoppiness and a biting bitter finish. There were some spicy notes present which I guess are from the rye, and they fitted really well with the hoppiness of the beer. This beer really got me interested in brewing something with rye myself!”]