Beer Hear!: Brooklyn Brewery: I Wanna Rye It

Monday, July 29, 2013

Brooklyn Brewery: I Wanna Rye It

Brooklyn Brewery's I Wanna Rye It! podcast

How the hops were selected for I Wanna Rye It! podcast

On July 26, 2013 the Brooklyn Brewery released the seventh beer in the Worshipful Company of Brewers series, an Amber Rye Ale designed and brewed by Brooklyn's Production Manager Jimmy Valm.

I Wanna Rye It!

The 7.4% ABV ale pours out clear as glass and has an enticing deep mahogany/garnet hue beneath its ample frothy head. The aroma is subtle, with a touch of spiciness under the dry malty nose. Brewer Jimmy said that he wanted his beer to be more focused on the rye rather than the hops, and he clearly achieved his goal with all of the rye character that this ale exhibits. The hearty body is rich and chewy. As far as taste goes, the dry, peppery rye malt flavor dominates, along with a mild roasty note, but is balanced out by a healthy dose hop bitterness, courtesy of Chinook hops.

Born in Brooklyn but having grown up in Seattle, Jimmy had been pining for a return to Kings County for a long while. But before he'd return he would earn a brewing degree at the reputed International Centre for Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. He then worked at Heineken's U.K. operation, brewing Fosters on an industrial scale before learning of an opening at the Brooklyn Brewery and applying for the job. After working at Brooklyn for less than a year he got his chance to design and brew his own creation as part of the on-going Worshipful Company of Brewers program. The program gives Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's staff an opportunity to make one batch of a beer of their own design for limited release at the brewery's tasting room.

Jimmy chose the challenging rye beer style, and made a little history with Brooklyn Brewery's first rye malt ale. Hear about the details in the two-part podcast about I Wanna Rye It!