This rye IPA pours a beautiful, sudsy, creamy head. The retention is acceptable, keeping a strong head that’s weak in comparison to the opening height. Lacing is of fine bubbled patches that clings nicely to the glass. Pretty nice.

The aroma is actually quite light. It’s got the standard Sierra Nevada hop aroma of pine, citrus, and in this case an earthy rye grain. It’s subdued, with layering that’s just too tough to pick out. Quite disappointing in this area.

Flavor is also the standard Sierra hop bill, though not near as aggressive as Torpedo. It’s definitely packed with a considerable amount of hop resins, though not so much that it overrides the rye, or has a mouth coating, palate wrecking effect. Rye adds a nice spicy, grainy quality, though more subdued than I had hoped. Sort of a black pepper addition on the palate. It fades quicker than I had hoped, despite the hop oils. Very nicely balanced malt/hop ratio. The mouth feel is ultra creamy and perfectly carbonated.

It seems they’re using the same hop bill as the rest of their IPA’s, but I can’t confirm that because they’re very secretive of their recipes. If you’ve had the Sierra Nevada lineup, you’ll know what I mean. Regardless of the light use of rye, it’s a noticeable change up on the typical IPA, and this one that’ll be nice to have around (especially in my neck of the woods). It’s definitely worth trying to see what the rye craze is all about.

Hops: Bravo, Chinook, Citra, and “experimental” hops

Malts: pale, rye, caramel, chocolate

6.6%

55 IBU

Chico, California