Terrapin Rye² Reserve

Brewed by Terrapin Beer Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Athens, Georgia USA

Name: Rye Squared Reserve
Date: 11/08/2007
Mode: Firkin
Source: Twains
Words: woodford reserve

Appearance: hazy dark copper, fine beige head, solid lace,
Aroma: sweet caramel aroma with lots of oak followed by more whisky sweetness,
Flavor: sweet caramel and wave after wave of vanilla flavor, hops offer good balance but stay in the background, lots of woody oak, hint of alcohol grows and combines with the vanilla for a hot buttered rum character, light bitter finish,
Overall: sweet vanilla and oak rules this beer and turns it into something totally different
-------- /> Name: Rye Squared Reserve
Date: 01/26/2008
Mode: cask
Source: acat

still the wonderful sweet caramel and vanilla with oak and a touch of hops for balance,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.9/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

On cask 1/26/08 at the Atlanta Cask Ale tasting: Pours a transparent deep golden bronze with an airy off-white head. Fresh oaky nose has great complexity and sweet caramel notes along with some grapefruity hops. Body starts fairly full and rich with some sweet sticky caramel, woody oak and bittering citrusy hops with some hop resin and alcoholic warmth toward the drier crisp finish. A nice variation of the original Rye Squared.

Appearance: Clear, clean penny copper-colored body with a bubbly, off-white head. Smell: Bourbony -- but not too effusive, at least not to the level I was expecting. Smells pleasant and all, but the original beer seems lost, especially the hops. Taste: Caramel malts with plenty of sweetness and a strong, brash flavor of bourbon. Fair amount of wood. A few hops remain and do what they can to keep that sweetness in check. Boozey, bourbon-soaked finish. Mouthfeel: Light-bodied. Mild carbonation. Drinkability: Not quite as good as, oh, say the North Coast Old Stock Cellar Reserve Bourdon Barrel, but decent enough. Although, I’d really have rather had the straight-up, standard Rye².

This is definitely less hoppy than the normal Rye2. The whiskey wasn’t overpowering. While this was a fairly solid aging job, I think I prefer the regular version better.

Pours a nice copper color with very little head. Aroma is caramel, vanilla, some hops, and bourbon. Flavor is malty, caramel, bitter hops, and a warming bourbon finish.

On cask at Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting. One of the more entertaining oak aging jobs at the fest. I remember the original being much more hoppy and the rye coming through a little more as well. Either the oak aging or the time has muted the hops from the original. Still really nice oak and vanilla aromas and flavors.

Pours an almost layered orange/amber with a small white head and little carbonation. Big vanilla and oak presence along with a smattering of floral hops. Very sweet and malty for an imperial IPA ... a lot different from the regular rye2 as the vanilla and oak dominate. A lot sweeter than expected. Still, nice cask smoothness and a great flavor. Great brew.

You know what I hate? When brewers soak thier beer in wood chips soaked in something else. I love barrel-aged brews, but think that the practice of putting wood chips in beer is amateur. Do you ever see this practice going over in the wine or spirits world? Anyway, too much whiskey soaked firewood chips in this one. Not a fan.