Compelling, with a hearty dose of unmistakable rye spice, backed by subtle mandarin, grapefruit, and pineapple notes. Pine, caramel, and a little pepper are underneath. Toasted biscuit comes through on the fade, and the rye lingers long into the fade. Starts with a raw malt undertone, but really opens up as it warms. Nice pint.

On tap at a restaurant. Pours red orange. Biscuit, pepper, orange peel, cherry. Medium body. Decent.

Bottle from Whole Foods. Amber and clear with moderate white. The spice is present throughout, but also orange and slight pine from the hops. Overall a really nice beer.

Bottle from Whole Foods. Medium, clear amber, small foamy head. Light aroma points to malts.Taste brings in a bit of the savory, snappy rye , still a solid malt base underneath. Hops add a nice sharp bite that compliments the rye flavors well. Seems light and watery though, although the hops bite lingers for a bit.

Bottle. Copper beer with a dark cream head. Grapefruit aroma. Grapefruit and light spice flavor. Medium bodied. Good bitterness. Grapefruit and light spice lingers with light earth.

Tap at SF Beer Week Opening Gala. Pours hazy amber, small beige head with good lacing. Aroma is pine, grapefruit, citrus, caramel, rye bread. Flavor is light bitter, light plus sweet, some rye spice present. Medium body, creamy mouthfeel. Kinda piney.

Bomber from Berkeley Bowl West. Pours a strangely brown tinged copper with a beige head. Aroma is a mix of rye and citrus. Enough stuff to tingle the nostrils. Flavor is rye spice, maybe some earthy malt, and arguably a citrus note. There’s a lot of right. Finishes rather bitter, but far from harshly so. Rye is the thing here. Like rye.

22 oz. bottle. It pours a clear, deep amber color with a medium off white head. The aroma is kind of syrupy and full with berries and rye. Mild notes of florals and citrus. The flavor is the same. Totally dominated by rye malt which lend a bit of a syrupy, berry-like flavor and mild citrus/floral hop character. A bit too sweet and syrupy for my tastes, but it manages to finish not too cloying and thankfully with a reserved bitterness. I was thinking this was going to be another overly bitter, palate-clobbering ASA, but it wasn’t due to the restrained bittering hop charge. If you like big, thick chewy, sweet rye character, then this is your beer.