Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Terrapin Rye Pale Ale


I'm always on the lookout for new beers, and when I saw Terrapin Rye Pale Ale on the shelf at EarthFare the other day I had to give it a shot--especially when I saw it's from just down the road in Athens, GA.

As it turns out, it's not exactly from Athens. Not yet, anyway. Terrapin just signed a lease on a 45,000 square foot facility near the UGA campus and acquired brewing equipment formerly used by Atlanta's Sweetwater and Zuma breweries, so soon Terrapin will truly be a local Georgia beer. For now, it's contract brewed in Frederick, Maryland, as it has been since the company was founded in 2002.

But, does it really matter? It's definitely a good beer, with the crisp, hoppy taste of a classic pale ale. A small amount of rye--a grain rarely found in beer--is included in the mix. I couldn't discern the rye, necessarily, but no matter. It's definitely a great beer. The Terrapin Rye Pale Ale recently won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, so I'm not alone in that opinion.

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