"Your 22% tobacco-infused rye-wine (Rye-wine! Has anyone done one of those?) is great, man, but this bitter is bone-crushingly authentic ("authentic" is a real good word to use, I hear...), and I'm going to have five of them! WooHoo, now that's extreme beer!"I've since learned that Drake's does a ryewine, and a couple other brewers have done one-offs. But when I saw this short blurb on MyBeerBuzz about #18 in the Tröegs Scratch Beer series, I was...intrigued. #18 is billed as a "Triple Rye Ale." Ryewine?
Not exactly. I got in touch with John Trogner, who told me it's actually "Triple Rye Pale Ale," or maybe 'Triple RyePA.' One of their brewers has been wanting to make a rye beer, any kind of rye beer, and John's been thinking about doubling up on double IPAs to make a triple IPA. As John put it, one day after work they're all sitting around, having a few beers, and after a couple, the two ideas collided. A Triple RyePA!
"It's not a Belgian kind of tripel," John said. "And it's fun, you know, we have fun with the names of the Scratch beers, even if no one else gets the joke. [Flying Mouflan, anyone?]"
The beer's already been brewed, with about 30% malted rye in the mash. "And a ridiculous amount of hops," said John. "Why not? Lots of Warrior, lots of Mt. Hood. The main flavor is Chinook, that stinky citrus." Sounds so appealing, but who am I to talk?
John said it should be out in about two weeks, depending on other work. But I gotta tell you, I wonder how much will be left: sounds like they've been hitting the zwickel pretty regular on this one: "The rye’s got a nice subtle spiciness," John said, drool practically coming over the phoneline, "and it’s got a rounded, creamy mouthfeel."
Might have to get in the Passat and go try this one.
6 comments:
This one is kind of exciting for me, and kind of not. I'm not sure what to expect as I've had Rye beers that I'm not necessarily a fan of, particularly Lancaster's Rare Rooster. Maybe 30% rye is just enough to be right.
I've been following the scratch series, late to the game I'll admit, but I've been buying them. I find it exciting to see what's coming next. Unfortunately, Troeg's has not kept their webpage up to date, but the blog you pointed to has been right on top of it...I'll have to bookmark that one.
4 years ago the now defunct Far West Brewery brewed a batch of Rye Wine that was 50% rye. I formulated the recipe and have a keg that has been lagering for 4 years at my bar Balefire in Everett WA.
Interestingly if you look at the rate beer scores (http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/far-west-rye-wine/56760/) it's improved with every taster! I'd gladly pour you a glass.
Weyerbacher did one with what, XII? Or XI? Remember the orange label?
It was THICK. Like gluey thick.
I'd love to see a clean and hoppy Ryewine, if possible, loaded with Rye flavors.
Maybe Troegs will nail it?
Scratches have been hit or miss, but I have high hopes. We'll see, I trust Troeg's to put out a good product in their regular offerings, but the scratches are unique. I was told that 15 sold out in 3-4 hours...how long until that hits their seasonal rotation?
Lew, I just wanted to post up and say if you haven't been to Troeg's since they updated the tasting room, you should go check it out. They expanded the seating area and now you can get sixers and bombers there and they also sell pints from the bar as well as give samples. In my opinion all they are missing is some sort of food to go along with the beer. Not that I see Troeg's becoming a full fledged pub but some nachos or soft pretzels would go great with those beers.
Just wanted to give you another reason to make the trip. :)
What about Ithaca's Old Habit? They name it a "strong rye ale", pretty close to a ryewine anyway
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