Three Notch’d Brewing Tollan Rye
If there’s one company in the Virginia Commonwealth that’s been, not only consistently pumping out quality beer, but also getting it on shelves incredibly quickly — I’m talking a day or two after canning — it’s Charlottesville’s Three Notch’d Brewing. This can of the company’s Tollan Rye, a 6.5% ABV (75 IBU) rye IPA, was picked from the rack at a local shop just five days after it was packaged. That quick turnaround makes for an enjoyably fresh and lively drinking experience for a brew like this.
The level of rye in Tollan Rye provides a fairly potent pepper spiciness and a raw grain-like trait that I particularly enjoy in a beer like this. That earthy presences works quite well with the pine and tropical notes of the hop blend in use. Toss in a solid amount of hop bitterness to accompany that spicy rye and you’ve got yourself an eye-opening bite and refreshing snap to a beer that would be great any time of year, let alone the mid-November afternoon during which I consumed this can and a few others.
Three Notch’d is quickly becoming on of my favorite Virginia breweries. Just about everything they have produced that I’ve gotten my hands on has been solid whether that be a big brown ale or full flavored, yet easy drinking IPA. Now that they have decreased the time it takes their beers to arrive on local shelves, I’m sure I’ll be seeing more and more of their stuff in my beer fridge. I certainly know that I’ll be purchasing more Tollan Rye as soon as I run across it again.