I didn’t intentionally mean for it to happen, but I’ve been drinking an oddly high number of beers made with rye the past week or so. Whether it’s a Terrapin Brewing Rye Pale Ale, Heavy Seas 2010 Letter of Marque (rye porter) or this offering from the Bruery, it seems something with rye has been in my hands just about every time I grab a beer.
Out of all of them, however, I’ve got to say that my favorite thus far was a bottle of Rugbrød — a Danish style rye beer, whose title means “rye bread.” Luckily, it tastes much better than drinking a class of bread.
Appearance
Rugbrød pours a brownish copper in color with a large white head that faded quite slowly. As a side note, the bottle had a small glacier of foam escaping from it’s open mouth through the first half of the beer that needed constant supervision.
Aroma
The nose on this beer is surprisingly big. The rye is most definitely in there adding a complimentary graininess to dark fruits, caramel, roasted malt and light citrus hops. Smells darn good.
Taste
The flavors of this beer are just as complex as the nose. There’s a well balanced combination of the rye, a smokiness from the roasted malt, a little semi-sweet caramel and just the slightest hop bite. It’s much sweeter than the nose alluded to, but not overly so. The mouthfeel is a little heavier than light with an active, crisp carbonation. The dark fruits linger in the finish along with a bready character.
Overall
I enjoyed the hell out of this bottle. Despite the complexity of Rugbrød, it’s quite smooth and drinkable. The 8% ABV is well masked, yet warming as you make your way through the bottle. Super tasty.
Rating: 4/5
