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Tonight I bring you something a bit different - Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye:

According to the bottle, this is a Specialty Ale. Well, they’ll get plenty of complaints if they plan to stop production. That’s my prediction.  Thankfully, I don’t think that’s the plan.

The beer pours a brownish copper color with a thick, sticky tan head atop. It’s a very attractive brew.

The smell from the bottle before the pour was of very rich, sweet malts. However, in the glass it was mostly floral, pine and somewhat fruity hops.

The flavors are complex and wonderful. It’s just so nice to open an unknown bottle of beer and enjoy it this much.   According to the website, the beer contains 20% rye malt.  There is a ton of flavor in this one, and the different flavors complement each other perfectly in my opinion. Up front is the malt - sweet, but not too sweet. The malt soon gives way to the star of this show - the hops. They are spicy, they are bitter grapefruit, they are a force.  If you like hops, you’ll love this beer. The hops  bring with them a touch of alcohol flavor - not too much, just enough. This is 8% ABV.

Although IPA is not mentioned anywhere on the bottle, this one certainly drinks like an IPA, and a very big one at that. (Looking at the website now, they call this beer “essentially a strong American IPA…”)  It is hop-dominated and has an alcohol kick to it. It has a good upper medium body with on-the-money carbonation. I really can’t recommend this brew enough to anybody who likes a flavorful, hoppy beer.

Enjoy your beer,

Brew Brain