Okay I'm just going to start by saying that this is now the second time I will be writing this due to an error occurring deleting this whole massive blog I just finished, in a word frustrating. Still I press on with a tit for tat battle of two very different Rye style IPAs. First off a little background for all those who may not be totally up to speed on all things rye. It is a grain, and when brewing it in beer it takes the place of some of the barley involved in the brewing process. Typically these ales leave a dry, grainy after taste, that have on more than a couple of occasions given me a wicked case of dry mouth. It also doesn't hurt that they are extremely hoppy, and bitter most of the time weighing in at healthy amounts of alcohol.
The first competitor is He'brew (Conney Island, NY) R.I.P.A. on rye. He'Brew typically makes alot of unique one of a kind beers, so they like to try a lot of new stuff. This particular Rye IPA has been aged in rye whiskey barrels as well, and created in a doulbe IPA style. The double IPA was to be expected the, the rye whiskey barrel aged not so much. What it does though is give this beer an awesomely smooth texture typical with alot of barrel aged beers. It also seems to taken out a lot of the dry flavor that usually comes from a Rye IPA. This one has been created so that it is not a knock you down kind of hop stength, but actually starting to lean more towards the sweet side approaching near barleywine, which is no real suprise with some of the stronger IPAs as they climb the alcohol percentage ladder. R.I.P.A. is definitely in that category listed at a nice hefty 10%, so pretty strong.
While our first competitor is dressed in nothing but class, our next competitor is coming in with cut off sleeves. Rocket Dog Rye IPA from Laughing Dog(Ponderay, ID) is what I've come to expect when reaching for a Rye IPA. Now Laughing Dog is a brewery that excells in all things IPA. They have a couple of different variations of imperial IPAs, all beers usually hoppy, usually bitter. This Rye IPA follows right along with that tradition. It has a very raw hoppy taste that leaves a real bitterness inside your mouth. The while having a very dry exposed feel to it, almost as if you skipped the brewery and just stuffed hops in your mouth! It smells hoppy of course, but with some overtones of that rye finish definitely present. After one sip your throat is drier, and that wonderful rye aftertaste has clung to every last tastebud on your tongue refusing to let you forget what just traveled down your esophogus. Bottom line is the Rocket Dog is the exact definition of what a Rye IPA should be in my opinion, a raw very unapolgetically strong flavor about it. That's not to say the He'Brew R.I.P.A. is bad, distinctively not, just very different from what I've come to look for when trying a rye IPA. It's smooth sweetness oozes class, but doesn't scream out in raw unbridled fury like the Rocket Dog does for this type of ale. I give my edge to the Rocket Dog, because it's exactly that strong distinct flavor I prefer when drinking this type of ale. Either way you really can't go wrong, so tip back one, the other, or both either way it's all golden.
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