Friends, I have to say that I’ve really been enjoying Westbrook beers. Westbrook Brewing, of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina has only been in Georgia for about a year now, but I’ve been seeing more and more of the beers show up at the liquor store and at Taco Mac. I’ve raved about the ones I have tried so far, but I guess it was inevitable that one would eventually get panned.

That honor is going to Westbrook One Claw Rye Pale Ale. Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad beer by any stretch of the imagination. It’s actually quite a good one. By style, this is a rye pale ale, or a pale ale made with rye. It has an alcohol content of 5.5% by volume. Here’s what the brewery says about the beer on the can:

One Claw is a rye pale ale made with a heavy handful of malted rye and scoops of our favorite hop varieties. One Claw is dedicated to those who bring a Westbrook home, to a friend’s, or anywhere a delicious beer is needed. Cheers to you, fellow One Claw!

Here’s what I say.

Westbrook One Claw Rye Pale Ale pours to a golden reddish color with a bright citrusy hop nose and a towering head of rocky foam. Taking a sip, the beer has some light caramel malt up front followed by lots of citrus: really, this beer is loaded with it and it quickly becomes the dominate characteristic. It’s very much like bitter orange peel more than anything else, I think, with some orange juice thrown in for good measure. As the beer warms, I get just a bit of peppery, grainy rye in the finish, but I want more. The beer finishes with a quenching, sharp critic bitterness.

A very nice beer on its own merits, but in all fairness I think I prefer Terrapin Rye Pale Ale as rye pale ales go. It just has more rye to it than the One Claw. That’s why, as much as I like the One Claw, I would probably not buy it again. It’s just too pricey at $10.99 a six-pack. Which is $2 more than the Terrapin goes for. Four stars on its own merits, but a half star off for price.



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