Price
Meter
Low!
There are a lot of great things you can do to a beer to make it a really great beer. Adding pumpkins is one of my favorite things to do, or maybe a lot of malt, or lo of hops. Really, though, adding rye to your beer has to be near the top of the list for me, too. I love rye bread, after all, with all its chewy grainy goodness. So why not add it to beer? Lots of American brewers do these days, most notably with IPAs, although rye beers have their origins in German Roggenbier. Sort of like a wheat beer, but with rye.
Vermont’s Magic Hat brewery is now in on the act with Magic Hat Ticket to Rye, a rye IPA. This beer is part of their “I.P.A. on Tour” series, and was featured in a recent Magic hat 12-pack sampler. Magic Hat says this about the beer on their website:
A rye I.P.A. that offers the imbiber an opening act of rye spice, nicely woven into a hearty, bitter backup from an entire band of Nugget hops. The harmony created by these ingredients is just what an epic show calls for.
OK…not telling me a lot, other than they use Nugget hops in this one. The bottle tells me, though, that Magic Hat Ticket to Rye has an alcohol content of 7.1% by volume, and I know the 12-pack runs $13.99.
Magic Hat Ticket to Rye pours to a muddy reddish color with a thick head of rocky foam and a nose of caramel malt laced with hints of spicy rye. Taking a sip, I get more of that caramel malt up front, a good thick coating of chewy malt goes over my tongue in fact. I get some tea-like, herbal hop aroma as the beer progresses but even more spiciness from the rye, which I very much enjoy. Buttery yeast note peak through and at the last there is a peppery, gently lingering hop bitterness.
I’ll be honest, I’m not sure this one will go very well with today’s beer geeks, so focused on uber-hoppy beers as they are. But for my part, I’m loving the rich chewy malt, the spicy rye, the buttery diacetyl, and the balancing but lingering bitterness.
A very nicely done rye IPA folks, done old school New England style. I’ buy a six-pack of this one for sure.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft