781. Sierra Nevada- Ruthless Rye IPA

Posted By kkozlen on Sep 18, 2015 | 0 comments

It was a long day at work today, and when I got home, I did some work out in the yard. So, after having a tiny bite to eat, I thought I’d relax for a bit and enjoy one of the Sierra Nevada IPAs I had in the fridge from the 4-Way IPA case I picked up a few weeks ago. The bottle says:

Ruthless Rye IPA is brewed with rustic grains for refined flavors, combining the peppery spice of the rye and the bright citrus flavors of the whole-cone hops to create a complex ale for the tumultuous transition to spring.

Location: Poured into a TEKU glass at my home in Bloomington, IL

Numbers: 6.6% ABV, 15.2° plato OG, 3.1° plato FG, 55 IBU, 200 calories

Ingredients: Malts: Two-row pale, Rye, caramel, chocolate; bittering hop: Nugget; finishing hops: Chinook, Citra, Equinox

Appearance & Aroma: It’s a brownish, brick red color and is somewhat hazy. I noticed a little bit of sediment at the bottom of the bottle when pouring it. The head is cream-colored and has a creamy and slightly soapy consistency. The aroma is lightly citrus hops with a light peppery smell from the rye malts.

Taste & Feel: The body is medium and the mouthfeel is a bit creamy. The flavor up front is somewhat spicy from the rye malt with lightly caramel maltiness behind it. The flavor get a little sweeter in the middle with a combination of maltiness and a hoppy citrusy flavor. The sweet citrusy hop flavor turns to bitterness in the finish, which mixes with the rye spiciness. The bitterness and spiciness last for a minute or two in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: With the bitterness and spiciness, I think I’d pair this with something straightforward and savory that would pull out more of the caramel maltiness, like a burger or a meatloaf.

Overall Impression: This is a solid IPA with a great mouthfeel, a solid malt backbone, and a good balance of bitterness and hop flavor throughout.  The spiciness of the rye mixes with the hop flavors, complementing each other nicely.  Overall, it’s a solid IPA with a unique spiciness and bitterness, and I’d definitely get this beer again.

My Rating: