Elav No War Rye IPA

My wife is smart and wonderful and does things like get me beer related gifts for Father's Day.  This year brought me a sampling of different beers from Elav Brewery in Northern Italy.  I'm pretty stoked about imbibing these over the next couple of weeks, and my first selection from the box is the tasty No War Rye IPA.  The brew pours a hazy, murky gold with a thick, white head and smells of citrus, orange peel, rye, pine, and spices.  The flavor is a lovely combination of citrus and pine with notes of orange and bread, and a slight hint of molasses.  Light to medium bodied and with a relatively dry finish, this 6.9% brew is an excellent start to this gift.  Be on the lookout for some other selections from Elav over the next few weeks.

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Bourbon Street Rye Pale Ale

I'm pretty much going to be favorable towards anything aged in a bourbon barrel.  And for the longest time, breweries pretty much stuck to stouts and porters when choosing to age them in old liquor barrels.  Of late, i've noticed a upsurge in a wide variety of styles being aged this way...and i'm totally for it.  Abita Brewery out of Louisiana offers up their delicious Bourbon Street Rye Pale Ale, itself aged in small batch whiskey barrels to give it that extra oomph.  Pouring light brown, the brew smells kind of earthy, a mix of bread, dark sugars, and light alcohol.  The flavor is kind of nutty sweet with hints of vanilla and bourbon and just a smidge of citrus.  I really enjoyed this 9.5% ABV beer, and found myself somewhat disappointed when i had none left to drink.

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Off Label Boomstick Double Black Rye Coffee IPA

No Label Brewing out of Katy, Texas periodically releases one-off batches of interesting brew concoctions on their Off Label series.  Their Boomstick Double Black Rye Coffee IPA is a mouthful, both in name and flavor.  Pouring a dark, blackish brown with a light head, the aroma of coffee and hops are immediately detectable...and they smell good.  Flavors of bread, malt, coffee, and spicy hops are abundant with some slight caramel and floral notes.  This is an interesting brew, taking bits and pieces from a whole slew of other styles to craft a veritable Frankenstein's Monster of a beer.  Somehow, all these different things work together though, and the brew is an excellent beverage to start or end an evening with.

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Lakefire Rye Pale Ale

Today was gorgeous.  The sun was out and shining.  Not a cloud in the sky.  A brisk and breezy 75 degrees.  I could have stayed outside all day drinking Lakefire Rye Pale Ales from Grapevine Craft Brewery had parental responsibilities not demanded otherwise.  The Lakefire is a perfect beer for the upcoming summer, a nice amber with rye and fruit notes on the aroma and taste, and ridiculously easy to drink.  Take some on the river or to the lake or the beach.  You'll be sipping them all day long.

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Branchline Brewing Woodcutter Rye IPA

San Antonio's Branchline Brewing Co. offers up a delicious beer with their Woodcutter Rye IPA.  The beer is a dark orange with a decent, quickly dissipating head.  The aroma is great, with hints of floral, pine, citrus, and spice.  The flavor is predominantly pine and citrus with a decent helping of hops to keep things just the right amount of bitter.  There's also a mild bready taste.  All in all, a very easy beer to drink, and a good intro for someone who's not necessarily into IPA's in general.

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