Rye IPA facts for kids
Rye India Pale Ale is a style of rye beer that has a strong hoppy character comparable to the India pale ale. The rye India pale ale is a beer style that uses malted rye grains in the mash ingredients. The addition of rye adds a tangy or spicy character to the beer. Its use has recently grown among American Craft Brewers, but has been a traditional brewing grain for many eastern European breweries for many years.
History
India pale ales have their own distinct history in the world of beer and brewing. Rye began to be used in the making of this style of beer because it was used popularly in other staples of food and drink. It falls under the Rye Beer style of brewing and is often called a "RyePA" in reference its sister brew, the already mentioned IPA. In America, rye has traditionally been used in baking for such things as pumpernickel bread as well as in rye whiskey. It was not a popular ingredient until the early 2000s.
Popularity
Overall, craft beer is growing in popularity worldwide. Within the craft beer market, IPAs are one of the most popular category, with a 47% increase in sale volume as of 2014. Because they are considered to be part of the IPA category, Rye IPAs are growing in popularity because of the different taste profiles they bring to the category. It has become a staple brew with many breweries who are known for their IPAs to increase the variety of styles of IPA they brew. The growing popularity of the use of rye has been coined the "rye spike" and can be seen in the increase in popularity of rye whiskey as well.
Brewing with rye
Rye is a grain and is used in addition to the other malted grain, normally barley, in the ingredients during the mashing process. Rye is known to be difficult to brew with because of its high beta-glucan content. This makes the filtration of the wort more difficult than normal. Rye is normally added to beer for its complex, crisp and distinctive, spicy flavor and sometimes adds a reddish color to the beer as well.
