New Glarus Unplugged Smoked Rye Ale
A bold rich smoky nose is created naturally with a blend of smoked malts from Bamberg, Germany and Chilton, Wisconsin as well as robust Wisconsin Rye. Special Ale yeast ferments this hazy deep amber brew in the bottle. This is a big smoked beer fermented with Turbinado sugar and appropriate for sipping slowly today.
3.6
172 reviews
New Glarus, United States
Community reviews
Reddish amber color with a short lived tan head. Great big smokey head with some bacon and a little plastic. Great big smokey beer with lots of bacon, campfire, some band aid and plastic. The alcohol comes out as it warms. Lots of brown sugar sweetness. I like smoked beers and this is definitely a smoked beer.
12oz bottle thanks to GhostFace. Cheers, Neal! Pours a clear yellow-orange with a white head. Nose is big campfire aroma with a bit of caramel and some mild sweetness behind the huge smoke presence. This is one to ponder as the smoke lightens as the beer warms. Light in body and big in flavors. Interesting...
Bottle. Pours a hazy ruby with small white head. Meaty aroma with notes of tireyard and cinnamon. Flavor is slightly salty, notes of speck, campfire, and caramel. Moderately heavy oak and meaty smokiness in the finish. Nice malt backbone. I like!
Bottle at a tasting at Paul’s. Pours a lightly hazed amber ruby with a thin white head. Big rubbery smoke on the nose, a touch of sweet malt. Malt, toast, roast, a bit of sweetness and a touch of salinity. Medium bodied, salty and smokey, lots of rubbery malt. Malt, roast and a touch of smoke. Finishes with more smoke and a bit more sweetness.
Bottle. Brown pour with tan head. Very smoky aroma with wood and light meat tones. Flavor is mostly smoke, less wood or meat tones.
Bottle from Three Cellars. Pours brownish brown with faint yellowish tints. Faint off-white head. Aroma has whiskey, earthy peat and caramel. Taste is of slightly salty smokey meat, sweet caramel and some fruit. Very interesting. Finishes smokey and dry, with a tangy-ness that lingers for a while. Interesting take on a smoked, but without the type of fullness of body I would prefer, plus I did not ever get any rye in the aroma or flavor ... and I like rye.
Translucent mahogany with a thin beige head. Med-full body with med-full carbonation.
Aroma: strong but dank meaty smoke, fruity esters.
Taste: woody smoke, smoked meat, dark bready malt, yeast esters, and some alcohol.
12 oz. bottle. Pours a slightly hazy copper color with a medium sized off white head. The aroma is very smoky. This is a meaty kind of smoke like you would get from bacon and ham. The flavor is more smoke, with splashes of caramel, rye, barbecue sauce and char. Consumed not long after the release.
Smoked and bacon though the aroma is a bit weak for a smoked beer. If this had some rye character I think it would be really interesting but I just don’t get it here. As smoked beers go not bad but the mouth is kinda oily.
Originally reviewed: 2/27/12. Poured this one into a mug. Pours a cloudy rusty brown. This looks like I dipped my glass into the Yadkin River. Huh. Big smoky aromas - campfire, ham, bacon grease. Yowzas. Much smokier than I thought as it completely dominates the nose.
The mouth was way thin for my liking. Carbonation level was low, and there just wasn’t anything to back up these unique flavors. The smokiness pervades the flavors as well, as I feel like I am drinking the dregs from a can of ham. Actually, that may be about right as the body probably matches that as well. I can’t pull any rye character from this one. No spiciness; bitterness is near absent. I am not opposed to smoked beers at all, in fact, I have enjoyed them at other times, but this one just downright fell flat for me. This might as well be called New Glarus Liquid Pig. Pass.
Bottle, as pictured. Very smoky, dark brown with minimal head. I really don’t taste much through the smoke. Not bad overall, but nothing spectacular.
tons of smokey aroma right off the bat. Almost a baconey flavor. Dark copper color. Hints of rye balance the smoke, but not enough. This is a smokey beer for sure
12oz bottle.
Pours a dark, clear amber with a small, short-lived beige head which leaves some legs of lacing on the sides.
The aroma is all about the smoke, and it’s mostly of the smoked-meat variety with pork coming to mind. There is a bit of smoked wood in there and an interesting ashy, peaty thing as well as some sweat fruit way back behind the smoke.
The taste is smoky as well, but the first thing I noticed is that it’s much sweeter than the aroma with some apples and caramel malts up front. The smoke is present throughout but especially in the finish where the meaty smoke lingers.
The mouthfeel is smooth with soft carbonation and ashy and smoky on the palate.
I love a good smoked beer so I was pleased with this beer overall. I still don’t think this sits on the Schlenkerla level, but it’s just a notch below. Solid.
Bottle, thanks to Scott. Like the Hill Farmsteads, and so many others, a big part of the Winnipeg Tasting/madness. Pours clear tawny, thin off-white head; poor lacing. Nose is since ham-smoke, maple, golden syrup, french toast. Remarkable nose. Flavours are smoky and malty, but the alcohol is just jarring in this one, very rough throughout. A lovely-smelling beer, that is just too thin to hide the alcohol in the mouth. Unfortunate.
Clear amber pour with a small off white head that fades fast. Strong smokey aroma with bacon, more smoke, a touch of alcohol, and more smoke. Sweet malty caramel flavor filled with smoke and yes....Bacon.The spicy rye on the finish makes it even better. Very interesting, but after 1 beer, I had enough.
Bottled sample via oakbluff. Consumed with Savvy1982 and oakbluff. Pale brown in colour with medium carbonation. Aromas are of fruitwood smoke, and neuralish ale yeast. Smoke forward in the mouth, some caramel malt and hints of vanilla chocolates in the background. Oddly bitter, but finishes sweet. A bit of an odd duck.
In short: An extra-smoked smoke-meat sandwich in a bottle. Good stuff
How: Bottle 12oz, consumed 9 months after the beer release (was it brewed more than once?). Bottle from oakbluff… I think. So just in case: thanks a lot Scott!
The look: Clear copper body topped by a very small off-white head
In long: Nose is heavily smoked with smoked ham and smoked wood, this is borderline Schlenkerla smoky. Taste is very meaty (smoked bacon, smoked ham, smoked herring, more…), some caramel, strange bbq-ish spiciness, deep-fried something. Despite its name I didn’t pick much rye in this beer other than an overall flavor of a smoked-meat sandwich with its usual rye bread. Not as good as the existing Schlenkerlas yet the intensity was such that I could have believed this beer was a new Schlenkerla. I have rated so many beers that I’m now thinking about writing a beer diary, but unlike others mine will be written from the perspective of the beer, mainly a bunch of “pssshhhhh” and “noooo please don’t drink me”.
Bottle. Pours a clear deep amber with a gray head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma is quite smokey with a note of cured meat and some backing rye. Flavor starts with smoke and a bit of backing beef jerky but finishes with more of a rye and bread note.
Bottle pours deep amber with a tan head. Aroma shows spicy rye, good doses of smoke, caramel, and earth. Flavor shows sweet malt surrounded by dry peaty smoke and finishing with some peppery rye. Overall body is moderate and the smoke definately lingers on the finish.
aroma very smokey and malty, color, light meduim hue small foamy white head, taste wow smoke was good, nice strong mellow smoke flavor, then malty background, overall, Thanks Lushawn, was sent to me as a gift, i wish I could find this stuff around here, I really enjoyed it!
Split a 12oz bottle. Poured a dark amber color, small off-white head. Aroma was smoke, roasted and slightly toasted. Earthy. Flavor is smoky, with notes of earth. A bit sweet. Perhaps not my most favorite brew, but interesting enough that I’m not disappointed I tried it.
Bottle (trade with arkurzynski - huge thanks). Campfire smoke and sweet rye malt aroma. Amber color with moderate head. Sweet citrusy rye malt with moderate smokiness. Mildly bitter herbal hops finish. Nicely blended. Probably the sweetest smoked beer I’ve had but works well.
Dark amber in color, clear with a thin head. Deep smoked aroma light rye malt and some hops. The flavor was thick with smoke and rye malt. This was a super tasty beer.
Courtesy of northernbrews. Brilliant copper, minimal head. Aroma and flavor dominated by smoke, in a good way. Fatty/meaty, much like my smoker after some pork butts. Very woody, some sweetness and spicy rye through the finish, help to balance a bit. Very clean. Medium body and mouthfeel. While the smoke dominates, this is really nice. Another solid offering from NG.
Lovely beer. Amber hazy pour with compact head. Smoky nose with sweet rye and caraway seen. Flavor is the same, with a smooth finish. Very good to sip and enjoy.
Pours a nice dark amber with a thin tan head. Aroma has immediate notable smoke...a bit of a band aid aroma...and a bit of underlying roasty earthiness. Flavor follows suit...still some of that band aid flavor from the smoked malt...also a brief sweetness I can place...slightly cloying. Mouthfeel is slightly sticky but lively and the finish is dry and smoky/hoppy.
12oz. Bottle: Aroma of smoked malt, Bamburg, wood, smoked cheese, smoked meat, smoked fat, and a hint of rye. Poured amber in color with a a tiny, tan head that lasted around the edges only. Cloudy. Not sparkling. Full of small and medium-sized particles throughout. Flavor is light to medium sweet. Tastes, much like it smells, of smoked malt, Bamburg, wood, smoked cheese, smoked meat, smoked fat, slight caramel, and slight rye. Medium body. Dry texture. Average carbonation. Light to medium sweet, smoked malt, Bamburg, wood, smoked cheese, smoked meat, slight caramel finish is lightly dry. 8.5%ABV is completely hidden throughout.
bottle pours light brown with a thin off white head that fades quickly but leaves a steady film the length of the glass. Aroma is big cherry wood, smoke, salt pork, peat. Flavor is sweet molassis up front with big waves of wood and smoke layered in with pepper and peat that lingers in the finish with the smoke. Very nice smoked beer!
Bottle from sloth! Murkey red in color, ok head. Aroma of some smoke and sweet malt. Taste is the same. Intial taste is a nice smokiness but followed by a sweet maltiness that is over powers the smokiness..... Medium body. Just an ok smoked brew.... Thanks Bert for the beer!
Tasted on 11/22/11 from a 12oz bottle, thanks to ryan585 for this one. Pours clear mahogany with a thin beige head that recedes rather quickly, leaving nothing more than a thin collar of lace. The nose is dry and smokey, along with light notes of bread, vanilla, and baking spices. The flavor has a touch of sweetness, but is dominated by hickory smoke, along with the lighter notes of bread, brown sugar, vanilla, and baking spices all in the background. The body is medium with average carbonation, and a long, very smokey finish with just a touch of vanilla and baking spices.