Brewery: Terrapin Beer Company, Athens, GA
Brewery Description: “By using an exact amount of rye, a grain seldom found in other micro brewed beers, the Rye Pale Ale acquires its signature taste. Made with five varieties of hops and a generous amount of specialty malts, it offers a complex flavor and aroma that is both aggressive and well balanced - a rare find among beers. The Terrapin Rye Pale Ale was released in Athens, GA in April of 2002 at the Classic City Brew Fest. Six months later this beer which was sold only in Athens was awarded the American Pale Ale Gold Medal at the 2002 Great American Beer Festival, the most prestigious competition in North America. We hope you will agree with our peers in the brewing industry that this is truly one of the best pale ales in the country.”
Brew Style: American Pale Ale, 5.3% ABV
Recommended Glassware: Lager, Shaker
The Ugly Truth: I had this on tap last night while I was waiting to meet up with friends. Figured I’m drinking it, I might as well write a review for it. Right off the bat, not everyone will like this beer. I have this horrible feeling that because rye is a grain, certain readers of this weekly feature are going rise up and take me to task when I say I really enjoyed this beer. Which is somewhat understandable, until you realize that while rice and rye are indeed both grains what they add to the taste when put into a beer are worlds apart. Rice means nasty sweetness. Rye means really good dry finish. You don’t find too many beers that use Rye, as a matter a fact apart from this one the only other one I’ve ever had is Red Hook Sun Rye and that is fantastic as well.
Terrapin Rye Pale Ale had a nice deep golden color to it, with a fairly minimal head. The aroma has some rather complex notes, probably due to the multiple hops but you could definitely make out the rye in the beer. The taste is strong on the rye flavor as well, but it does have this almost citrus/malty sweetness to it as well. The finish is very dry and ended on some really interesting flavors. I personally really enjoyed it, but like I said I don’t know if this will appeal to everyone.
Verdict: Sadly, there isn’t much out there to compare it to for Rye beers, but it was damn tasty. 8 out of 10 bottlecaps.
If anyone out there has any suggestions for good rye beers, please let me know.
A few years ago I had Pete’s Multigrain Ale (dunno if it’s still available). It did have a noticeable rye flavor, in addition to the oat, wheat etc. I thought it was good.
Yeah I don’t think they make that anymore. Red Hook Sun Rye is out now, that’s another good one.
Red Hook Sun Rye is out for its seasonal run, I highly recommend trying it.
Remy, believe it or not I find myself checking here constantly for your reviews since I slung you through the mud on that Leinie’s Sunset Wheat review.
I can honestly say I’ve never had a rye beer before, and I was just reading some recipes for homebrews and found a rye that looks really good, maybe I’ll try making one. I just checked both my favorite beer places here in NE Ohio (places that carry many varieties of beers) for Terrapin and I can tell you that neither of them had any rye beer at all. Zilch, zippo. To make it worse, I was really looking forward to trying it since I’ve never had a rye before. Is it a seasonal thing? Maybe I should try back in a couple weeks?
On an unrelated note, I wanted to email you but I can’t find an email for you on this site (am I blind or is there no email link for you???). I really don’t want to hijack this thread, but I just discovered a beer by Boulder Beer called Hazed & Infused that you really need to check out. It’s a dry-hopped ale that is probably one of the best beers I’ve ever had. It’s the kind of beer that you can drink when you’re thirsty and it quenches your thirst, yet it is a hop-head’s dream. A different kind of hoppiness with the dry-hopping, but very tasty. Can’t wait to see your review on this one (if you can find it)…
I can be reached via email through the site: remy@bostongeek.com. I’ll see if I can find the Hazed and Infused.
To the best of my knowledge, Rye beers are typically seasonal so keep a look out for one. Do you ever get Red Hook beers out there?
As for your constant returning, you simply enjoy the pure and unadulterated wisdom that I pass on. Or you hate yourself, I’m not sure which
Went and looked. Boulder Beer does’t distribute to NC but it does to MA. I can also buy it through an internet distributor. Certain individuals running this site have mentioned “Beer of the Month” clubs at some point, but maybe a one time internet purchase may be coming.
Haven’t tried Terrapin’s Rye, but I’ve been unimpressed with other Terrapin products. If you want a good rye beer, Turm&Taxis Roggen Bier is the only German brewed Rye beer, and it is excellent. They just started brewing it again, sometime in the last 20 years (after about a 500 year hiatus) but it’s still the ancient recipe. You may have to go Germany to get it though.
Thanks for the suggestion Roger.
I have a store down the road that is pretty good about imports so I’ll have to look there and see if I can find it.
Big Remy
Try the Founders Red’s Rye if you can find it.
Red’s Rye
“Pours a spectacular crimson red with a creamy tan head. Brewed with four varieties of Belgian caramel malts imparting a sweet richness. Red’s Rye is impressively balanced with its hop bitterness and huge citrus bouquet achieved from the immense amarillo dry hop. The generous amount of malted rye used accentuates a spicy crisp finish.
Specs:
6.4% ABV
68 IBU�s
Color: Crimson Unfiltered
Cellar: 6 months
Availability: Year round
Serving temperature: 42 f
Glassware: American pint”
http://www.foundersbrewing.com
Cool, thanks