TERRAPIN RYE PALE ALE GETS THE PARTY STARTED

Last week legendary rock monsters THE STOOGES played their first-ever show in San Francisco, and there was no doubt that such a festive occasion was going to need some out-of-the-ordinary beverages to get things off to a great start. Luckily my friend CS brought a six-pack of TERRAPIN RYE PALE ALE to the bar we were convening at, and politely asked the barmaiden if she might be willing to uncap the lot for us. After a little smarmy faux backtalk, she graciously agreed to do so, without even charging so much as a “corkage fee”. See, CS had brought this wonderful beer back from the east coast (or had it sent), yet it’s not even at east coast beer. TERRAPIN BREWING are based out of Athens, GA, famous for not only the Georgia Bulldogs, but a whole host of college rock bands from the first half of the 80s. This is the brewery’s pale ale, and it’s a damn good one.

I was sincerely happy that the beer had survived the journey to the west coast unscathed. Terrapin Rye Pale Ale has a real oaken, almost woodsy aroma and initial taste to it (that’d be the rye, I’m guessing), but once you get your bearings straight with this beer, it’s smooth as silk from thereon. It’s a cloudy, unfiltered pale ale, reminiscent of bread & honey in its taste, and medium carbonation. Similar to the excellent FOUNDERS RED’S RYE I had a couple weeks ago, and honestly, just as good. Unless I’m mistaken, this is quite likely the only beer I’ve ever had from the American South that wasn’t made by ABITA or BLUE MOON (which is no longer made in the south anyway). 8/10!