Rare beer sighting! Or not. Green Flash Road Warrior Imperial Rye India Pale Ale is what I’m talking about, a beer that began life a year ago as Green Flash Hop Odyssey Imperial Red Rye. It’s back with a new name and a slight tweak for May of 2014, and my local Taco Mac has it, until they don’t. I helped move the keg towards the “They don’t” category just the other day when I enjoyed a glass of this big, luscious beer.

Green Flash Hop Odyssey Imperial Red Rye was the second release in this limited edition series. Green Flash said this about it on their website:

Bigger, bolder, and hoppier is what you get in Green Flash's Imperial Red Rye IPA...how unusual!  This is quite possibly the most amount of flavor that can be packed into a glass of red ale.  Columbus hops set the stage for the newly available Mosaic hops (released in 2013) to shine through the rich crystal malt base and a touch of rye malt adds a spicy dryness to accentuate the hop character further.

Green Flash Road Warrior Imperial Rye India Pale Ale is brewed with the same Columbus and Mosaic hops the Kop Odyssey edition was, but with Amarillos thrown in for good measure. Alcohol content has been upped from 8.5% alcohol by volume to 9%, and the beer still has an impressive 80 IBUs. Green Flash Road Warrior Imperial Rye India Pale Ale is a ‘short pour” at Taco Mac, served in an 11 ounce glass, but the price is a reasonable $5.50. The “Road Warrior” name is a tribute the sales staff of Green Flash, who hit the road every day to peddle the brewery’s wares. The beer is now a late spring seasonal sold on tap and in the bottle.

Green Flash Road Warrior Imperial Rye India Pale Ale pours to a dark ruby color with a very minimal head formation and, for me anyway, a fresh-cut Christmas tree and melon rinds nose. There’s really a colossal spicy rye character in the palate, stewed malts, rye toast and grapefruit really, and the beer has much more rye than the Green Flash description suggests. Some grassy hops in the finish leave a huge bitterness and alcohol warmth helps dry as well. This beer has a massive rye presence, it’s absolutely the best Imperial Rye IPA I've ever tasted. I didn’t really get so much of the Mosaics. People often describe their aroma as “tropical fruity”; perhaps that was some of the melon I got in those nose. Still, the rye and stewed malts could be drowning them out, too.

All in all, this is one for the record books.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

 

 

 

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