Michelob‘s new Rye P.A. is a “Rye India Pale Ale”, with 5.9% alcohol and some 50 IBUs and previously only available at beer festivals. Michelob sent me a sample of the beer, coinciding with its appearance in this year’s Fall/Winter Sampler Pack.

I will admit right off that releasing a rye-based beer caught my attention. (It’s also brewed with two-row and caramel malts.) Rye beers are not something you see terribly often in large part due to the hassles involved in mashing it, so my interest was definitely piqued to see a BigCo brewer tackle one.

My notes:

Appearance: Bright deep copper like shiny penny. Clear, with a decent light tan head on it.

Smell: Sweetly fragrant—a bit hoppy with a pumpernickel spice aroma. Nice.

Taste: Spicy and hoppy—hops are steely-bitter and clean. Nice spicy rye character—a slight husky graininess with a lively bite. Hops aren’t up to what I’d consider “IPA levels”, but they do blend nicely with the rye.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with a nice presence on the tongue; a bit effervescent.

Overall: Unique and flavorful, actually quite a nice beer. Amber, spicy, hoppy, with a nice overall balance.

On BeerAdvocate it does something astonishing for a macrobrew: it has an overall grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 2.75 out of 5 and is in their 25th percentile.