HopDog Heparyzen

I love rye.

I love rye bread, rye whisky , and especially rye beer. There is something amazing about the grain which adds a spice and heartiness to anything it is used in. I particularly get excited when I find a beer that has my two loves, hops and rye, together in significant quantities.

Heparyzen by HopDog is currently my favourite beer, or it is at least until they brew another fantastic rye ale, like their now retired Ham on Rye. While it may not break any records with their hop quantities, the Heparyzen manages to use the big flavours of the fruity Galaxy hop to balance out the 50% rye malt grain bill wonderfully and the result is something deliciously perfect.

I just have one question however, what the hell is going on in the label picture?

If you can find this beer on tap count yourself a very lucky person, for the rest of us this 5.2%  sessional beer can be found in 330 ml bottles at selected outlets.

The Verdict

The one problem with writing this review was that I had drunk the beer before I thought to think about how to describe it. It’s one of those ales which just disappears down your throat and before you know it you have an empty bottle in front of you.

From memory, it’s a cloudy golden beer with a spritzy head that disappears quite quickly.  The classic galaxy aromas of passionfruit and fruit salad great the nose and are present on the palate as a wonderful counterpoint to the rye spice that sidles into your mouth while you are distracted by the full malt flavour and the refreshingly quick finish.

How does that sound? I could be spinning bollocks because all I remember was a sense of euphoria that wiped all memory when the beer hit my lips. All I know is that I feel refreshed but wanting more (and sadly I have none).

I’m almost afraid to try this beer again, because I don’t want to mess with the memory of a perfect drink, so I would advise you to take the following score with a grain of salt.

10/10

Drink If You Like….

If you like beer, drink this. If you don’t like beer, drink this.

Trivia

Rye has not been a common ingredient in beer, particularly since the demise of the Roggenbier in the 15th century. Roggenbier was a 60% rye beer brewed extensively in Bavaria, and was similar to Hefeweizen on account of the same yeast used during brewing. In the South of Germany, a series of  bad harvests brought on the Reinheitsgebot, a law ruling that rye could only be used to make bread and it disappeared from steins everywhere.  According to Wikipedia, this style was resurrected in 1988 after a 500 year absence.

The rise of craft beer in the last 15 years has brought back more experimentation with specialty grains, and now it is not uncommon to see rye appear as a grain of note in American style IPAs and smoked beers.