Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Summit Frost Line Rye Review



Name: Summit Frost Line Rye
Style: Rye Beer
ABV: 5.8%

Even though the cold unforgiving months of winter are (mostly) behind us, I've been meaning to review the latest seasonal addition to the Summit Brewing lineup. Announced earlier this year, Frost Line Rye is Summit's newest winter seasonal beer, which is a rye beer; Not too surprising since it's given away in the name.

I do think, however, that it's an interesting style of beer to go along with since I consider rye beers as whole to be somewhat of a niché style of beer. However, let's take a look before I decide to pass judgement.

Frost Line Rye pours a dark red color with a thin khaki colored head. The visible carbonation is relatively mild and the lacing left behind is actually quite good

The aroma has a fairly solid spicy rye and roasted barley profile upfront. Backing that up are some yeasty notes and some surprisingly strong citrus hops which linger on in the nose throughout.

Initially the taste comes off as a bit too heavily focused on the rye profile. However, if you let it warm up just a bit, you're going to find that the citrus hops, yeasts, spiciness and roasted barley flavors really start to shine through and it really gives some much needed balance to the overall flavor; Particularly the citra-hop profile.

The palate is very light bodied and the carbonation comes off as fairly moderate. Depending on what temperature you have the beer, it can be a blessing or a curse.

At first, I found this to be a very imbalanced beer due to the colder temperature. However if you let it warm up for a little bit, you're going to find yourself with a surprisingly well-balanced and flavorful ale. Since this is a rye beer, not everyone is going to fall in love with this, but for what it is, I found this to be quite enjoyable.

Summit Frost Line Rye - 8.5/10

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