Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye Specialty Ale: Brewed in California at strength of 8% alcohol, this unfiltered Imperial Rye IPA was poured from a 22 oz bottle into a beer glass at home.
Aroma and Appearance: This pours a cloudy dark copper, with a fingers worth of foam and oddly enough the bubbles come straight up the middle of the glass and avoid the sides completely. The aroma is strong tropical hops, mango and tangerine and you can smell the rye malt in there too. At this point I knew I was in for something good!
Flavour: Fairly malt forward and a lot of rye bready malt with tropical fruity flavours, hints of caramelization and nuts with grapefruit on the medium bitter finish. Overall body is fairly thick and the beer is filling.
Overall Impression: My first words after the initial sip were “damn that’s good!” so needless to say I liked it. While I think it is silly that this place sued Central City for the use of Racer and Red on their labels, at least they make very good beer.
Rating: I give it a 8/10 as in excellent, the addition of rye (and all the trouble that comes with it in the brew process) works very well here and adds a nice and unique malt element to this beer.
Food Pairing: Smoked meat on rye bread.
Do you like Rye beers and what did you think of this one?
West Coast Beer Geek 
It’s to bad that the owners are much like the owners of Steamworks. Not all owners are practical people or even smart business people. What can you do. They do make good beer though.