Interesting Beer: Sour Porter and Rye Session Ale

I had a good run of beer in NYC's East Village over the weekend. While there was no shortage of tasty ales, here are a couple of the more memorable ones I recommend looking out for.

Dark Humor
Ithaca Beer Company
American Porter | 7.00% ABV

A- / 4.05
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Had a 10 oz. pour at Good Beer in the East Village. I like the balanced Brett character. I wouldn't have guessed the strength, but maybe the wild yeast has helped dry this one out a bit, the mild tang certainly seems to lift the body. Otherwise there's a wonderful, clear chocolate roast with a little bit of candy sweetness. The Brett pops in for a sharp, slightly acidic citrus note, but not much else. Heck of a beer.

Ryely Summer Rye Ale
Davidson Brothers Restaurant & Brewery

B / 3.58
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Had an imperial pint at Drop Off Service in the East Village. It was billed as a summer rye ale, and I believe it. This is just a nice, satisfying session beer in the same vein as an American wheat ale in that it's simple and clean, showing off a non-barley specialty malt. Instead of the sweet, bready wheat taste, this has the spicier rye character. Very drinkable and though it wasn't the most complex rye beer I've had by a long shot, I'd happily have a couple more pints.

Homebrew: Tavern Tan Rye Pale Ale

Over the weekend I fired up the turkey fryer with Erin and Dan (stirring the hot break) to brew up a batch of Tavern Tan Rye Extra Pale Ale. At the end of the day, we had a higher gravity than intended, so I'm just considering it a pale ale.

One change that likely bumped up the sugar is that I did a more watery grist (for me at least) with 1.3 liters water/1 lb grain.

I also made a couple modifications due to ingredient availability and, well, just because I felt like it. The homebrew shop was low on malted rye, so I subbed in a pound of flaked rye, which will add a little thicker mouthfeel.

Then I swapped the Mt. Hood hops for Cascade and Liberty (since this beer will be ready around the 4th of July). I'll also toss in an ounce of my favorite all-purpose hop variety, Centennial, to dry hop.

For 5 gallons:

6.5# Maris Otter
1.5# Victory Malt
1# Malted Rye
1# Flaked rye

1 oz. Cascade @ 60 min (5% AA)
1 oz. Liberty @ 15 min (3% AA)
1 oz. Liberty @ 0 min
1 oz. Centennial Dry Hop

Wyeast 1272 American Ale II

IBU: 22
SRM: 8
SG: 1.060
FG: 1.010
ABV: 6.6%

UPDATE: This came in stronger than expected, and fermented a bit hotter (up to 80F), so it needs an extra week or so to work off a slight fusel alcohol note.