A beer and a boy

My son's name is Rye. People always ask where we came up with the name.

JD Salinger's "A Catcher in the Rye" is the usual first guess. Don McLean's "American Pie" is another quick reference. (You know, "The good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye.")

The real reason: My then-pregnant, then-wife and I were driving from Nebraska to Colorado, trying to think of a boy's name. We were listening to Modest Mouse's "Black Cadillacs," which includes the lyric, "And it's true we named our children after towns that we've never been to."

That made me think that we should consider towns for our coming son's name. We thought about London, Bristol and a few others we'd visited while studying abroad. Eventually, we opened the Colorado map. We noticed a town in south-central Colorado called Rye. It stuck. And it's true we've never been there.

That's a long intro into a beer review. But Hop Rod Rye from Bear Republic Brewing Co. had me the second I noticed its name on Beer Advocate's top 100 list. It's not easy to find. I scored a four-pack at Seattle's Bottleworks, which is an incredible beer store.

Hop Rod Rye is a hoppy India Pale Ale, but it gets its last name because it's brewed with 18 percent rye malt. The rye makes it an interesting drink. There's another taste layer going on. While the IPA is pretty hoppy, it boasts considerable maltiness on the back-end. I assume the rye has something to do with it.

And it's safe to assume that my son had something to do with me enjoying the beer so much.


Postscript: Here's a picture of the boy wearing a shirt that I picked up at Bear Republic on my roadie.














The details:
Name: Hop Rod Rye
Brewer: Bear Republic Brewing Co.
Beer Advocate rank: 63
Style: American IPA
Alcohol: 8 percent
Cost: $7.99 for a four-pack
My Grade: B+
Skinny: A complex beer with big hops upfront with an interesting malt finish, thanks at least in part to the rye.