Magic Hat Ticket to Rye

I like rye beers, and with the warmer months, I'm starting to crave hoppier beers instead of maltier ones.  The Magic Hat sampler I picked up a little while back had a rye IPA, so I figured it was time to give it a shot:

Vittles:

Rye IPA (Specialty Beer)

7.1% abv

80 IBUs

15 SRM

dry-hopped

Appearance: 9/10

Amber is a good color for beer.  Especially when it's topped by a little over an inch of creamy, off-white foam.  Moderate bubbles, decent head retention, and mild lacing all make this beer look appealing.

Aroma: 21/25

Mild rye spiciness and a moderately strong hop spiciness combine quite nicely.  I think I'm also getting something slightly herbal and maybe nutty, but it's a little hard to pick out against the stronger spicy aromas.

Taste: 32/40
Spiciness, both rye and hop, dominate the flavor profile.  Pepper and resin are clear in the flavor, though I didn't pick up on them in the nose.  It's not overly bitter for an IPA, and the grain bill supports the hop characteristics pretty well.  Aside from spiciness, and again a touch of herbal and nutty character, I also taste something mildly sweet, like caramel, and maybe a little roastiness, possibly chocolate notes.  The aftertaste is bitter/spicy and has decent linger.

Mouthfeel: 7/10

The medium-light body and very slight astringency were a bit unexpected, but not necessarily bad.  It was a little more carbonated than I thought it should have been.

Style: 5/5
It's hard to lose points in the Specialty Beer category, which is where a rye-based IPA would land.  I found this beer to be fairly well done -- maybe a little off balance with the spiciness to sweet malt, and the bitterness could have been more forward, but those are personal preferences, not deviations from the style.

Drinkability: 8/10
I could probably have a couple of these back-to-back, since it's not an overly bitter beer, nor does the aftertaste really coat the palate all that much.  It does, a little, especially with that resin character, but not nearly as much as some other IPAs do.  I think this would also pair well with a good steak on the grill.

Overall: 82/100
I'll be looking for this beer again.  I've always enjoyed Magic Hat beers, and I'm glad this one didn't disappoint.  I've only had a small handful of other rye IPAs to compare it to, but it's better than most of the others that I've tried so far.  (The Zeno's-Otto's Rye IPA is still my favorite, I think.)

And I can't pick up this beer without getting the Beatles stuck in my head.  That's just a bonus.

Cheers!