Rye Bock Lager - Left Hand Brewing Company, Longmont

Rye beers are more popular than ever. It seems like most breweries use malted rye in at least one of their beers. I tend to glance over most ryes I see on the beer list because a good deal of them are Rye IPAs, not the kind of beer I'd choose to showcase my rye malt. This bottle from Left Hand is a Rye Bock, a Bavarian style Bock that's been brewed with malted rye instead of barley. There's nothing off the wall about this beer but it still stands out in a crowd. What makes Left Hand's Rye Bock remarkable is it's quality and flavor.

The Rye Bock pours a cloudy brown color that looks like an unfiltered Bock when you hold it up to the light. The copper highlights are almost red at times and the head is an ever present foamy layer of off-white bubbles. When I went to smell this beer I thought I'd accidentally poured a big bottle of something Belgian. The malts caught me off gaurd, being lighter in aroma and almost yeasty, I thought I was smelling an abbey ale.

The flavor of this beer bring it back in line with what I was expecting from a big Rye Bock.... sort of. The sweet malt and grainy rye were balanced perfectly for my palate. This, coupled with the amazingly smooth texture, meant the entire bomber was gone in no time at all. If you like Rye beers or Bocks of any kind, you should be on the look out for this beer. At 7.7% ABV it won't knock your socks off right away but it's dangerously easy to drink an whole bomber in the time it takes to watch an episode of The Simpsons.