Upslope Manhattan Style Rye Ale

Review Date 7/14/2024 By John Staradumsky

  Style:  Roggen   Brewery: Upslope   Country: USA   State: Colorado   $ Per OZ: N/A   ABV: 10.4%

So, I found this can of Upslope Manhattan Style Rye Ale. It was a pretty big can (19.2 ounces) of a pretty big beer, and I knew going in it had some age on it. Good old Dale Roberts had sent it to me some years ago, though I could not recall exactly how many years. Then I looked at the label: canned on 5/21/15, meaning this can had nine years of age on it.

That being the case, I wasn’t really sure this was going to be drinkable, as I had aged it longer than I intended to. Much to my delight, it was magnificent, and I wish I had had more to hang onto.

Upslope says:

We set out to recreate the flavors of the classic Manhattan cocktail using our preferred artistic mediums: premium malt, hops, and yeast. Aged in first-use Maryland-Style Rye Whiskey barrels, the bold, barrel-forward rye spice and sweet malt aromas interweave to create notes of sweet cherries, caramel, rye whiskey, and hints of vanilla. Like the cocktail, the warm, rye whiskey character plays a central role in shaping the unique experience of this beer.

Upslope also says:

Each Beer from our Lee Hill series is a cellar keepsake.

Well, I took them up on that one.

Ingredients from the label:

Snowmelt

Caramel Rye Malt

American Ale Yeast

Premium German Hops

Upslope Manhattan Style Rye Ale, volume 4 in the Lee Hill Series, has an alcohol content of 10.4% by volume with 35 IBUS.

Upslope Manhattan Style Rye Ale pours to a murky ruby red color with a medium sized head of fluffy foam and a nose of spicy rye and booze. Taking a sip, the beer is rich and malty up front and thick with spicy rye. There’s caramel malt and dark fruity raisin and black cherry. Rye whiskey notes abound and a hint of vanilla pokes through. A warm boozy finish cements the Manhattan cocktail theme.

How to style it? You could call it a strong ale and not be wrong, but with all the rye going on here both from the rye malt and the whisky barrel aging, I am going to call it a roggen, if an uncharacteristically strong one.

Amazing after 9 years, Upslope if you make this again I promise not to wait so long to drink it.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??