Rye - the liquor, the grain, the ingredient

I've seen a few posts and recipes with rye as an ingredient in the brew. I've never had a rye beer. I've had rye bread, don't particularly care for it. I've read about Rye whiskey but never actually saw it in any bar or liquor store. So....

I inquired about Rye at the liquor store last Friday, while browsing around after picking out a couple of commercial brews. The guy behind the counter looked around a bit, and then just told me to check back with him next time I'm in.

I go in tonight, and that guy isn't working, I pick out some brews to enjoy during tonights world series game (OH YEAH, Go Sox!) and then browse the whiskey section a bit, and I discover a bunch of Jim Beam RYE with the yellow label -- $12.99 a fifth!

So I'm excited that finally somebody at a store listens to a customer and gives a crap! And I'm excited to try something new and not get bent over on the price!

I pick up a bottle, take it home, pour a nice glass on the rocks, about like I would normally do with a glass of scotch or bourbon. At first sniff it smells very similar to bourbon. My son says he thinks it smells a little "bready". Then I taste it -- it's got a very sharp, distinctive taste that hits you in the back of the mouth, quite different than scotch or bourbon. And after a few sips -- this has really grown on me -- I like the heck out of Rye Whisky!

So, anyone else out there a Rye drinker? Favorite brands, if you've sampled many?

And, can someone tell me what a rye beer is like, or what rye does to the flavor of beer? Any commercial examples I might find in the Boston area, to see what I think?

I know this was a long post, hoping it has some interest, I had no idea which forum category to put it under...

I know of 2-3 examples of beer with added rye malt. Hop Rod Rye and Terrapin Rye in Georgia are 2 that come to mind. I's sure there are several more.
Then there is Denny Conn's famous Rye IPA which is great. Denny'sRyeIPA.

Rye adds a spicey taste to the IPA that I brewed. Nothing similar to rye bread.

My rye ale gets a spicy hint that is in no way similar to rye bread. My ale is primarily munich malt so you get a lot of great malty flavour plus that spicy flavour and a nice dry clean finish in your mouth. I found I really liked it, I haven't been able to get rye malt lately or I'd definitely be making it again.

I don't drink hard liquor so I'm no help to you on that front.

I just put a Roggenbier - (German rye beer) in the fermenter on Saturday. The airlock sure smells good! I will have more details in 3 or 4 weeks.

Got the recipe from Jamil's show. See the link athttp://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/jamil.php - it's the Feb 12th episode.

This recipe is 45% rye malt. I like rye bread, so I decided to give it a try. Can't seem to find any rye beers around here.

Terrapin Rye is pretty good. Definitely spicy. It is hard for me to say what is rye spice and what is from the hop, but it is a good APA.

I think Jim Beam makes a Rye Whiskey, in the green labeled bottle (ah, I mean, yellow ). I have never had any but I want to try some.

Rye bread typically has caraway seeds in it - that's probably the flavor you're opposed to. I don't care for them much, either.

The only rye whiskey I've seen for sale is Jim Beam Rye (yellow label). Never tasted it, so I can't comment further.

As for rye beer, The only one I ever had was Dude's Red Eye Rye. It was good, but I can't say that I picked out a distinct flavor that I can attribute to rye.

Wow, I think I've just stumbled on a culture thing here.

Where I am, whiskey is referred to as rye. When you go to a buddy's house and he offers you a drink, he says, 'Want a glass of rye?'. It's typically mixed with Coke or Seven Up, sometimes Ginger Ale. In addition to that, virtually ALL the bread we eat in my house is rye. Not caraway rye because I'm the only one who likes it, but bread made with rye. I love it.

Blender said:

Then there is Denny Conn's famous Rye IPA which is great. Denny'sRyeIPA.

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Enjoying a glass of that right now, excellent stuff! I agree with the spicy observation in most rye beers.

There are a few other commercial rye examples. I have a bottle of Weyerbacher 12 Rye Barleywine aging in the cellar. East End's Kavass is brewed using fermented rye bread.

Fingers said:

Wow, I think I've just stumbled on a culture thing here.

Where I am, whiskey is referred to as rye. When you go to a buddy's house and he offers you a drink, he says, 'Want a glass of rye?'. It's typically mixed with Coke or Seven Up, sometimes Ginger Ale.

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Whiskey is the only hard stuff I will ever drink and drink very little so I am not expert but I think you are right. In America if you order a whiskey you will probably get bourbon or Jack Daniels if you order a "Rye Whiskey" you will either get one made with rye or looked at funny. To be labeled bourbon, the whiskey must be at least 51% corn. To be labeled Rye whiskey it must be at least 51% rye malt (US law). According to wikipedia, almost all whiskey sold in Canada is labeled Rye Whiskey even if it has very little rye in it.

interesting.

Here's a link to a few commercially available rye whiskeys in the US.

The yellow label! I love that stuff. I always have it on hand for those "rough" nights.

! word I'd use to describe is "spicy". It adds a bite that I kind of like.

If you are looking for a great rye beer and you are a hophead, get Hop Rod Rye. This is still my all-time favorite beer, and it is VERY hard to find here.

My Rye IPA is distinctly spicy, with a bready (but not rye bread, i.e., caraway) taste. I think it's great.

It was based on Terrapin's recipes. Check my recipe, just added it today.

I love Rye in beer. I am starting to add it to just about every beer I make.

Interesting about the caraway seeds -- and I originally thought it was the rye I disliked!

I'll have to look for one of those beers with rye in them during my travels.

Yup, the yellow labeled Jim Beam is the rye -- it does have a touch of harshness to it as described in Yuri's link above, but I find something about the flavor very enticing and I'm thinking that I'm going to want to keep some Rye Whiskey in stock in the liquor cabinet from here out. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a few other brands around!

If you ever get a chance to try Cane and Ebel, Two Brother's Hopped up Red Rye, you won't be disappointed. I tried it two weeks ago at a local restaurant and I was amazed. It has a nice hop character and a clean finish with a subtle matly hit from the rye. I need to drink a few more pints before I can really issolate the how rye influences the taste overall however I know I like it.

I just went to an awesome beer & wine store in Wells, Maine today -- called Tully's Beer & Wine. They had tons of different kinds of beers, but some that I'd like to find weren't available at all. Specifically I was looking for anything with Rye in it, and they had none. I also noticed they didn't have Fat Tire, or Stone, or Avery products.
But... I got some Rogue Dead Guy Ale, some Dogfish 60 minute IPA, some Hobgoblin, some Dogfish Punkinhead, and some Loose Cannon IPA. Spent too much on commercial beer! Could've used that money for ingredients or equipment!

I bought another fifth of Rye Whiskey, at the NH state liquor store, but didn't get to try it yet (have to pickup my brother at the airport) - called Old Overholt straight rye whiskey. I'll try it out this weekend, though!

PseudoChef said:

My Rye IPA is distinctly spicy, with a bready (but not rye bread, i.e., caraway) taste. I think it's great.

It was based on Terrapin's recipes. Check my recipe, just added it today.

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Double posting, but WTF! That recipe looks NICE! Have you been drinking it yet?
Terrapin, I'm guessing from MD -- maybe I can find that one around here somewhere...
The HopRod Rye, I wonder where that's from, the lady at Tully's wasn't familiar with it.

Terrapin is from Athens, GA but, used to be contract brewed and bottled by Frederick brewing company. I know they were working on building their own facility in Athens, looks like it is up and running according to their website. Oh, and the name comes from Terrapin Station a Grateful Dead album.

PseudoChef said:

My Rye IPA is distinctly spicy, with a bready (but not rye bread, i.e., caraway) taste. I think it's great.

It was based on Terrapin's recipes. Check my recipe, just added it today.

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I just have to try this recipe! If you've completed it, please post up your results/tasting/critique, too!

I know nothing about rye beer, but Jim Beam's Rye is great. Back in my whiskey drinking days, it was my signature drink.