La'al Rye'un

I really don't like beer reviews. It seems that everyone is grumpy about the beers they are consuming, for the most part, and I have started a couple of unfinished posts about just what I think about this. But then something inside me realized that I was being grumpy about people being grumpy, and haven't clicked the "Publish Post" button yet until I get this sorted out in my own mind.

Anyway, as I rolled cask number two out of eight of La'al Rye'un onto the stillage I thought I should say a word or two about it.

We had a fun yet zippy fast visit from our Sister Pub, The Woolpack Inn, over Christmas, and Dave the landlord/brewer, was put to the task of creating a mild using rye. Mild is a style that I don't understand all that much, but figure I have a few more years to learn about. I had a bag of rye languishing in the millhouse, and had only used a bit for a light rye stout that I made as one of the first test batches back in August. As my brewery and pub use all imperial measure, and the brewery itself is modeled after the Hardknott Brewery at the Woolpack, Dave seemed to feel right at home. Indeed, I was chased out of my own brewery on a few occasions as I attempted to monitor the progress.

Just this morning I drew the first pint of cask number two off the nice handy Cask Doctor taps I'm using. I call this the "finings pint". For quality control purposes one must make sure that fish guts and yeast aren't being dispensed into the eager punter's pint glass. Not a problem with this ale. That first pint is going to be just as good as the last. It is bright and full of flavor. The rye bit is present in the nose and the finish, which lingers just long enough for the next hoist of the glassware. The mash temperature was set at 68 Celsius to create a maltier, less bitter (more mild) flavor.

The second pull through the sparkler was even nicer. At 3.0% ABV, this is definitely a session quaffer, and I can't think of anything I'd do to change the recipe.