Among Midwestern breweries, rye — a grain more commonly associated with pumpernickel bread or whiskey than beer — is this summer’s surprise “it” ingredient.
Head to your neighborhood liquor store, and the shelves are lined with new releases like Arcadia’s Sky High Rye, Tyranena’s Bitter Woman in the Rye and suburban Flossmoor Station’s Rye’M & Reason (not technically a rye beer according to the Brewers Association standards, but it still features a tangy rye note). Half Acre did a limited release of its Baume American Chocolate Rye Stout in March and plans to release another batch in late fall.
Behind rye’s newfound popularity is the dry, spicy character that it gives beer, making it ideal for highlighting a hop variety’s bitter or fruity traits.
“[Rye] really is very spicy, and the biggest challenge in using it is that it is incredibly drying and can overpower the other malt characteristics we go for,” said Jason Ebel, owner of Warrenville’s Two Brothers, whose rye beer, Cane and Ebel, is the brewery’s third-biggest seller.
Ebel first brewed Cane and Ebel in 2005, making it, along with Founders Brewing’s Red’s Rye P.A. (released in 2004), among the earliest of the new wave of Midwestern rye beers.
“We wanted to do something different,” said Ebel. “But rye, to me, is very astringent. So I was watching the Travel Channel one night and saw how they harvest Thai palm sugar. I figured that might offset rye’s dryness and build body.”
Indeed it did, as the beer, which uses 70 pounds of Thai palm sugar per 1,500-gallon batch, features a complex bouquet of grapefruit, lemon and pine, along with a sharp bite from the rye.
What’s interesting about the rye boom is that no two rye beers are alike.
Red’s Rye P.A. is brewed with four varieties of Belgian caramel malts, giving it sweet, malty notes that complement the aggressive hops. And the golden-colored Sky High Rye looks, smells and tastes like a West Coast India pale ale with over-the-top floral aromas and distinct orange and pine notes with a hint of peppery rye.
If the trend continues, it won’t be long before rye doesn’t conjure up memories of a deli sandwich, but rather a refreshing, spicy brew.
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