#230 St. Louis Heritage Festival - Rye American Pale Ale

The St. Louis Heritage Festival is a local beer festival sponsored by local breweries and brew pubs Anheuser-Busch, Schlafly, O'Fallon, Square One, Alendale and a others. A full range of beer styles are brewed including the local best of show from the 2007 Happy Holidays Homebrew Competition. This Rye American Pale Ale was the winner of the homebrew competition brewed by August "Augie" Altenbaumer. Augie brewed this batch using O'Fallon's 15 barrel (465 gallons) system. Not all the beer was needed for the festival, and O'Fallon allowed homebrewers to fill 5 gallon cornelius kegs with the unused beer to avoid dumping it.

This beer has a light hop aroma with a grassy, fruity, almost orange smells. There is a slight yeast smell but that might be from the keg being from the bottom of the tank. The beer has a light brown color with some hazy, the hazy might settle out this keg has done some traveling today. The foam pours thick and sticks to the side of the glass with moderate retention keeping the beer covered in foam.

The taste is mildly hoppy with a floral and fruit flavor. The malt has a sweet caramel flavor that is well balanced against the hops. There is a definite orange taste coming from the blend of hops and malt. The rye gives the beer a thicker smooth body. This beer finishes fruity with some lingering hop flavors.

I really like this beer, it has a good flavor and balance and is easy to drink. I also like the rye usage, the fuller body really adds to the overall beer. I am excited for the 5 gallons I have to drink.