Season 2, Episode 12 – Are you Ruthless or Noble? The “I Love Beer” Show featured Sierra Nevada’s Ruthless Rye and Dogfish Head’s Noble Rot and put them to the craft beer taste test at Cheers Bar in Las Vegas, Nevada. Watch the video to see which craft beer the craft beer tasters at the bar preferred most – and the interesting story on how to get beer from wine!
First we went Ruthless with the Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye. This American style IPA came in at a 6.6% alcohol level and was recommended to us as a great tasting “intro-level” IPA, similar to one of our favorites, the Lagunitas IPA. (note how they describe their IPA’s as “Ruthlessly Delicioius” as well! – HIGHLY recommended).
We found this ruthless craft beer to pour a dark amber color of the rye with a good head retention and a nice balance of hops. It had a faint fresh floral scent while not the overpowering aroma that you may expect from an IPA, but the mouthfeel of the beer was great. The rye provides the complex character of a robust and earthly bitterness and floral accents that makes rye beers taste so good. Sierra Nevada constantly puts out great tasting beers and this was no exception. Definitely a great recommendation for the beginning IPA drinker, but a must for those who already like rye beer.
Then we moved to the “Noble” part of the show with Dogfish Head’s Noble Rot, a very interesting and unique type of “beer”. We say that because it’s as close to a “wine beer” that you can get. This 9% alcohol content level craft beer gets its unique taste and fermentable sugars from two wine grapes that are actually injected with a fungus to reduce the water content in the grape while increasing its sweetness and complexity.
We’ve always said that “beer is the new wine”, and this beer proves it! We detected a spicy white wine body and definitely a dry, tart finish almost like a mix of a Riesling and a Chardonnay. The pour produced a quick white head and some grape juice sunshine yellow colors. In general, drinking the Noble Rot will leave you with a tart, winey palate, while displaying the carbonation of a Saison. It’s very different taste makes a nice pairing if you’re having seafood or strong cheeses – but quite frankly, “wine beer” is definitely an acquired taste, as evidenced by those in attendance at the bar – who like always, get to sample the beers we highlight on each show – FOR FREE!
Yep, that’s right: “ruthless” won out over “noble”, but what would you expect in a town like Las Vegas, right! Make sure you’re a fan of the show and text BEER to 69302 to stay current with show happenings and events and become part of the craft beer fun!
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