SN Ruthless Rye 2012

alanzo · January 11, 2012, 11:59pm

Oh man. This stuff is good. Deliciously clear with a dank, dank hoppyness. Great aroma and a very clean hop flavor/bitterness. This coupled with the spicyness of the rye… awesome. Great hop choice to compliment the rye. No to be a douchey hop head, but it’s way better than the mai bock they replaced (Glissade) as their late winter seasonal.

According to the bottle date, the 12 pack I bought got from the brewery in California to my VT bottle shop in three weeks.

I think I may just like it more than Celebration which (when fresh) is my favorite IPA.

lynux · January 12, 2012, 2:47am

Good to hear, can’t wait to try this one.

s_scoggin · January 12, 2012, 6:22am

didn’t even know this existed. gotta keep my eyes open

brandon · January 12, 2012, 6:30am

I had it last week on draft . It’s VERY good

swoof · January 12, 2012, 7:30pm

Picked up a 6-pack of this at Winco last night. I really liked the rye spiciness. Seems more pronounced than in other rye IPAs I’ve had.

s_scoggin · January 13, 2012, 11:42pm

also got a 6 pack of this today. gonna crack one open tonight

mrv · January 14, 2012, 2:41am

Same here, I’ve already had two, though. Say, didn’t Denny spend a week there this summer? Coincidence, or positive influence?

s_scoggin · January 14, 2012, 9:56pm

[quote=“mrv”]
Same here, I’ve already had two, though. Say, didn’t Denny spend a week there this summer? Coincidence, or positive influence?[/quote]

i drank a few last night. very good, might have to buy another 6 pack tonight

brandon · January 15, 2012, 3:41am

Went back tonight to the bar at Whole Foods for another pint. It’s soooo good.

alanzo · January 15, 2012, 5:09am

Your Whole Foods has a bar inside of it?

s_scoggin · January 15, 2012, 7:27am

^ must mean a 22oz?

this beer is very impressive. id like to hear denny’s input?

brandon · January 15, 2012, 1:25pm

Your Whole Foods has a bar inside of it?[/quote]
Yep a wine and beer bar in the front of the store . They had Ruthless rye, Yazoo Sue, and Terrapin So fresh and so green. On tap

denny · January 15, 2012, 4:25pm

[quote=“S.Scoggin”]^ must mean a 22oz?

this beer is very impressive. id like to hear denny’s input?[/quote]

I tried it when I was at the brewery for Beer Camp. It might not have been the final recipe, but I think it was close. My immediate comment to the sensory analysis people was that it needed more rye. I think it’s only about 10%, well below what I consider the threshold for rye flavor. I was told that they can’t lauter more than 10% without a stuck runoff. That’s too bad. Other than a lack of rye character (for my tastes), I thought it was a pretty good beer.

mike_a · January 16, 2012, 7:31pm

Clearly they need to invest in new red Igloo mash tuns to avoid this problem.

Finally found this in New Jersey today, looking forward to popping one open tonight.

dsidab81 · January 18, 2012, 8:27pm

I tried one for the first time last night. the aroma was fantastic and I was expecting more of a hop kick upon tasting, didn’t tast much there. I did taste a very pronounced spicy rye flavor.
Perhaps i’m coming down with a cold…or maybe that Surly Furious I had first shocked my tastebuds???

I’ll give it another go this evening for a fair reference.

alanzo · January 18, 2012, 11:50pm

That is very likely. I find it difficult to be 100% confident with how a beer tastes unless it’s my first beer of the evening or my first in a few hours, etc.

chester3 · January 19, 2012, 2:46pm

I’m glad to hear the good reviews. Stopped off last night and picked up a 12-pack of 'er. Was warm, so I won’t try it until tonight. Wasn’t sure if I should have gone with the 6, but now no regrets.
:cheers:

ilford · January 20, 2012, 3:43pm

I found it quite delicous. It is not in in your face IPA at all. It is on the mellow side for an IPA but very refreshing. It does not taste like a 6.6% beer either. It makes for easy drinking and is quite nice.

sa_brew · January 22, 2012, 10:21pm

I thought it was pretty good, but it had a little bit of that sulfur character that I do not like in SN pale ale (smells like a ladies home perm.) I will probably give it another try though. Some bottles have that character, and some do not.

el_capitan · January 24, 2012, 1:54am

Personally, I thought it was great, if a little harsh. Very nice mouthfeel, great lasting white head, beautiful red color, excellent clarity. The hop presence is strong - I have a hard time discerning varieties in beer, but I was picking up Centennial. To me it just has a bit of an edge that I don’t find in my homebrewed RIPA. Of course, it could be something like water chemistry that’s making the difference. Overall, a great beer. Go get some!

On the other hand, it kind of made me think, “I could have brewed a whole keg of this for about the same price as this 12-pack.”

:cheers: to Denny!