Beer of the Week – Drygate Ax Man Rye IPA

Friday has arrived once again, and as ever that means at least two things. Firstly, the weekend is just around the corner (or maybe starting today, depending on your priorities) and secondly there’s another recommendation from my 52-strong vault of great unsung Scottish beers. With so many different releases appearing from breweries north of the border – it’s inevitable that some slip between the cracks. But no more!

Every Friday this year I’ll be gently cradling one of these precious, precious brews and placing it under the spotlight to reveal just why I think it is deserving of a place in your beer cupboard or fridge – if you haven’t tried it before. This time around, it is an IPA with a difference produced by a brewery who looked to do things differently from the very outset. Drygate’s fantastic Ax Man Rye IPA.

30. Ax Man (5.0%)
Drygate, Glasgow
Style: Rye IPA
500ml bottle

Pick it up here:
At Drygate’s online shop (as individual 500ml bottles)

Rye is an ingredient that can cause all manner of problems to brewers, gumming together during the mash to slow things down if not looked after carefully. But the flipside is the depth of flavour it releases into the beer – and I’ve had plenty of rye beers (a lot more recently) where the trademark spiciness is muted, or not in balance with the flavour emanating from the rest of the malt bill or the hops. Not so with Ax Man. The tingle of bready spice is a perfect addition to the piney hops and acts another brilliant element to the orange peel, caramel, dried fruits and toast also in there. Rye can be tricky to brew with, but when it pays off it is a fabulous ingredient for the brewer. Ax Man is the best rye beer in Scotland and a must-try, simple as that.

Beer of the Week Series:
1. Fyne Ales Highlander
2. Swannay Old Norway
3. Broughton Old Jock
4. Traquair House Ale
5. Tempest Easy Livin Pils
6. Cromarty Brewed Awakening
7. Fallen Chew Chew
8. Black Isle Hibernator
9. Isle of Skye Red
10. Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Engineer’s Reserve
11. Orkney Skull Splitter
12. Windswept Wolf
13. Kelburn Dark Moor
14. Alechemy 5ive Sisters
15. Loch Ness Light Ness
16. St Andrews Eighty Bob
17. Harviestoun The Ridge
18. Orkney Dark Island
19. Williams Bros Seven Giraffes
20. Cairngorm Black Gold
21. Strathaven Craigmill Mild
22. Black Isle Red Kite
23. Spey Valley Spey Stout
24. Top Out Schmankerl
25. Cross Borders Braw
26. Williams Bros Midnight Sun
27. BrewDog Kingpin
28. Fyne Ales Hurricane Jack
29. Deeside MacBeth