Harpoon Rich and Dan’s Rye IPA

This post is big #200 for Hoppy Boston. Considering the fact that I started this blog on a bit of a whim I never really thought I would get to this point, but here I am. Two hundred posts in and I am still having a blast writing the blog and interacting with my readers and fellow craft beer enthusiasts. I would like to pretend that I had a big plan for post #200, but it kind of snuck up on me. I figure it is appropriate that this post is another beer review since I started this blog as an excuse to try any and every craft beer and share my thoughts. Other blogs had been great resources in helping me find great local beer, and I hoped to do the same for my readers. I guess it’s fitting that this review is of a beer that is common in Boston, but flies under the radar a little, Harpoon Brewery’s Rich and Dan’s Rye IPA. Harpoon founders Rich and Dan brewed this beer to celebrate the brewery’s 25th anniversary, and it quickly became a fan favorite. This beer was brewed to be complex, with complicated but still complementary malt and hop flavors. Rich and Dan’s Rye IPA is brewed with Pale, Caramel, Vienna and Rye malts along with Chinook, Centennial and Falconer’s Flight hops. It is available year round in 12 oz. bottles and on draft.

Harpoon Rich and Dan’s Rye IPA pours a clear deep amber with a moderate cream colored head. The smell is mostly earthy and floral hops with some muted malty notes. The hops are the first thing you taste too, touches of pine, cut grass and a little lemon. The malts meld well with the hoppiness contributing a bold and spicy rye flavor and just a hint of caramel. The flavor is accompanied by a solid but not mouth puckering bitterness. This is the right combination of malt and hops. It is challenging to find the right hop profile to complement the spiciness of rye, but when done right I love rye IPAs. The beer is medium bodied and drinkable, but packs a little punch at 6.9% ABV. This is a really good beer, Harpoon’s flagship IPA is one of the beers that introduced me to the style, but I like this beer significantly more. Hoppy Boston score: 4.5/5.

Previous Harpoon Reviews:

Harpoon Citra Victorious, Harpoon The Long Thaw, Harpoon Beer Hall/First Frost Ale, Harpoon Saison Various