Ruthless Rye IPA, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

What did the baker say when his loaf came out darker and denser than he intended?  “Something has gone a rye!”  I went to hear a comedian and found out he was just mutated grass, but it was all good because he had a rye sense of humor.  What do you call a beer with sharp, earthy flavor and hoppy bite?  A RyePA!  Actually, that one’s true.  I’ll lay down these ryeitous puns and review Sierra Nevada’s Ruthless Rye IPA for you.

The aroma entices you with a playful hint of sharp, hoppy bitterness.  Just enough to get you excited about drinking an IPA but not so much that it smacks you in the face and says, “I’m an American!”  Upon meeting your tongue, the true lesson of this beer hits you; rye and hops are meant for each other!  And just like when you learn how to properly use a semi colon, you feel enlightened by this new information.  Instead of the malt and hops balancing by cancelling each other, they work together like the congress for which we all yearn.  Of course the double teaming on the bite increases the drying effect on your mouth, so you’ll probably want to move on to another beer after a couple of these.  Or maybe alternate between two beers.  This is all starting to sound like quite a bit of beer.  Maybe it’s time to drink some water.  Some people may not like the dryness of Ruthless Rye IPA, but even for them the tasty notes of pine and, well, rye should be more than enough to overcome any shortfalls this brew from Sierra Nevada carries.

Full disclosure, the bottle I had was quite old and that very well could have affected the taste.  The longer beer sits around, the more mellow the hops get.  Since IPAs without their hoppy bites are pretty much just slightly darker pale ales, they generally don’t make good candidates for cellaring.  I can’t say if the bottle I drank for this review was noticeably different from the original but if it was, I would guess it enhanced the product rather than detracted from it.  IPAs are great, but sometimes they can be a bit much, am I ryeght? Okay, okay, I'm leaving.