Episode 84: Hop Rod Rye – This beer can motor.

Our last in the Rye series is Hop Rod Rye. The edit might be a bit rough, because well I didn’t listen to it. Erin and I are traveling sans computer so I had to wing it.

News

Authorities in southwest Florida say an drunk man had his 9-year-old son take him on a beer run. Cape Coral police arrested the 27-year-old man last week, after seeing a pickup truck drive onto a median. When officers stopped the truck, the man told them he was teaching his son to drive. Officers say the father’s speech was slurred, his breath smelled of alcohol and he unable to stand without swaying. The man was charged with cruelty toward a child and allowing an unlicensed minor to drive.

Hop Rod Rye

• Bear Republic is located in Healdsburg, California which is located in Sonoma County, home of some great wine.
• One of the owners is also the brewmasters here, Richard G. Norgrove. The other owner is Richard R. Norgrove. I am guessing they may be related too.
• I will be honest, I could not turn up a lot on this brewery, although they do make a few tasty beers such as Racer 5 IPA, Big Bear Stout Ale, and tonight’s beer, Hop Rod Rye.
• The distribution for this beer is actually not although if you live in the north middle and south east of the country you could be in trouble. They distribute to Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, So. Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.
• Tonight’s beer weighs in at around 8.00% ABV, so it has a little kick to it, and is probably close to an IPA or APA style.
• The bottle tells me that it is, “a high performance, turbo charged, alcohol burnin’ monster ale with dual overhead hop injection, made with 18% rye.”
• The beer is an unfiltered beer, so it may have some sediment in the bottom so watch when you pour. Mine poured a dark brown, although not like a porter or stout brown, but the color of the bottle. The head is a little off white and sticks around for a second or two.
• The smell right away is hops, shocking from the name and all, but then comes the slight sweetness in the aroma that seems to grow a little bit with each sniff. Think along the lines of sweet citrus here.
• The taste follows through with the hops on the front and back but there is that subtle taste of malt and rye as well. The malt gives it the sweetness, the rye kind of lends a little twang to it.

Next Week

Next week we will start the month of Jim getting drunk, or in other words, we will be starting our barley wine series.

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Episode 83: Terrapin Rye Pale Ale – Turtle Power

After a week wishing you Happy Thanksgiving, we are back to our series on Rye beers. Jake was actually able to find Terrapin Rye Ale, so that’s what we look at this week.

News

A Japanese company, Bandai, has come out with a new beer shampoo. The beer foams up and overflows like a shaken up bottle of beer when water is added. Bandai has given Beer Shampoo a fruity citrus scent just in case those who have already imbibed a few REAL beers don’t down the wrong suds. The bottle is convincingly beer-like and the shampoo itself contains hops. The product is released on December 1st in Japan, although Bandai has no plans to export Beer Shampoo to the U.S.

Terrapin Rye Pale Ale

• Rye, like barley, is a grass cearal grain. It is mainly grown in eastern, central, and northen Europe. Typically you are going to see rye used in breads like pumpernickel. The beer with have some of that same earthy flavors to it, a little more sharp than the typical barly malt.
• So tonights beer comes from Terrapin Brewing Company, which is located in Athens, Georgia.
• Terrapin was founded by Brian “Spike” Buckowski and John Cochran and was named after the Greatful Dead album Terrapin Station. Mr. Buckowski is a bit of a Deadhead it seems.
• There first release for the brewery was this Ryle Ale was in 2002.
• The Rye Pale Ale won a Gold Medal at the GABF for American Pale Ale in 2002, and weighs in at 5.3% ABV and is brewed with 10% rye malt.
• So the name should give this away, but this is a pale ale, that means that you shouldn’t expect a big rye taste.
• Pours a copper, little darker than a pale with a little white head that goes away after a few sips except around the edge of the glass
• Nose is very pale ale no real rye.
• Taste starts the same way but in the mid-pallet you get a different kind of malt taste, that’s the rye. Best way to describe it is a bit more bitter and grassy than your normal malt taste
• Finish is what you expect from an APA nice grapefruity hops

Next Week

One more week of rye beer, and this one is going to come from California and Hop Rod Rye and Bear Republic. This is going to be the last of the Rye Beers that we cover.

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Episode 80: Founders Red’s Rye Ale – A little Rye in your Eye.

A new series with a kind of beer we’ve never talked about, Rye. We start this week with Founders Red’s Rye

News

This weeks news story comes from Rice University where scientists have said that they have created a beer that can help save your life. BioBeer, as it’s called, has three genes spliced into special brewer’s yeast that produce resveratrol, the chemical in red wine that is thought to protect against diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s and other age-related conditions. Don’t expect this product to hit the shelves any time soon.

Founders Red’s Rye Ale

• The rye beer style can vary, and is generally defined as any beer that has rye in it. How is that for vague.
• The style probably originated in Germany and was called Roggenbier there. These beers typically had a very high rye content, as opposed to the modern US versions that can vary greatly.
• Typical American Rye beers are going to to have moderate bitterness in order to allow the often spicy and sour-like rye characteristics to pull through.
• This weeks beer comes from Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapid, Michigain. Founders Brewing Company was started by Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers in November of 1997. These two were home brewers, as were many people who start breweries.
• Today, Founders small facility of 10,000 square feet that houses all its manufacturing needs. Current capacity allows for approximately four thousand barrels (31 gallons) per year.
• Tonight’s beer, Founders Reds Rye, weighs in at 6.8% ABV, so it is a little on the higher side. This is a smaller brewery, so there is a good chance you won’t be able to find it out there.
• This beer pours dark copper in color, not quite red like the name suggests, but still a very nice hazy color. This beer also appears to be unfiltered to some degree. The head is a nice tan and sticks around for a few seconds.
• The smell is very strong on the hop character. Think along the lines of a big IPA. You get a little rye on the nose, but not a lot. The hops overpower that one to some degree.
• That taste you can get a bit more rye, a little bit spicey, a little bit bready. The hops for this one are still up front, but they move towards the back a little with more and more of the malt and rye coming forward.

Next Week

In the next two weeks we will be doing Hop Rod Rye from Bear Republic. We’re looking for another beer for next week, but if we can’t find anything we’ll go right to the Hop Rod.

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