Rye in a beer? That’s right, rye is no longer limited to the mile high pastrami sandwich at your favorite Jewish Deli. (regrettable use of “mile high”). Why, in Georgia, they put rye in beer!….when they have enough water to make beer…Terrapin, the venerable micro-brewery (ok…they are five years old, but it seems like they should be older) from Athens, Georgia has made this unusual ale their signature beer…and for good reason…this brew will grow on you.

So how does a rye pale ale differ from a non-rye pale ale? Well, being that I’m Lieutenant LAGER…I’ll just make some shnit up about PALE ALES and tell you…

These are the specs from their site:

Malt: 2-row pale, Munich, Malted Rye, Bisuit Malt, Honey Malt.

Hops: Amarillo, Cascade, East Kent Goldings, Fuggle, Magnum.

IBU’s: 45
O.G.: 13.5
ABV: 5.3%

Now for my bullshit:

This ale has a beautiful golden brown complexion, which is a little darker than your average pale ale…I think… wait a second, yep it’s darker…At any rate, this is similar to some of your oatmeal style beers (or anything else grainy). I was very impressed that Terrapin made this rye brew into a pale ale as opposed to a stout. The rye compliments this lighter style very well and has a bold and very distinguishable taste as a result. Being that the rye does kind of jump out at you, the beer seems designed to have a nice malty aftertaste to temper the pronounced ryeness of this beer. The overall mixture was oddly refreshing and I highly recommend partaking at your nearest convenience.

So how does rye pale ale compare to regular pale ale? It has a rye in it… I don’t know… Imagine your favorite Pale ale and mix it will Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout…OK, now give it a pleasantly malty aftertaste….there you go… Terrapin Rye Pale Ale… Next time you are thinking about having a nice pastrami sandwich, have a six pack of this instead…your boss *probably* won’t mind.