TLDR Beer Club

[MrWookie]

For my next iteration of "beers noted in this thread that I haven't tried yet," I picked up a bottle of Bear Republic's Hop Rod Rye, previously reviewed by MilesDyson and given a 4 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] rating. I picked up a 22 oz bottle for $4.45. It's an 8% beer.



The first thing to notice about this beer is its great head. It's nothing absurd like the La Chouffe tripel/IPA blend, but it has a thick, creamy, persistent head that laces my glass nicely -- generally a thicker head than is typical for similar beers. It's on the darker side for an imperial IPA, and it has a nice reddish tinge.



The smell of this beer is delicious with bold malt and hop aromas. The flavor is similar, and very tasty. It has a nice, slightly sweet malt mixed with tasty and not overly bitter hops that taste mostly of citrus with a hint of flowers and grass. The finish is dry and hoppy. I don't so much notice the rye character, but that's a fairly minor criticism. This is just about everything I'd want in an imperial IPA. Balanced, but not at the expense of being too mild. Hoppy, but not at the expense of being nigh-undrinkably bitter. I agree with Miles's [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] rating.