Boulevard Grain Storm

The best way to build a Black Rye I.P.A., in our opinion, was to formulate what we thought was a very good Rye I.P.A. and then add grain to make it dark in color. We wanted to influence beer’s color, but not create a beer that had strong roasted or chocolate character. Midnight Wheat from Briess ended up being just the ticket to give the beer a dark color without the typical flavors associated with darker malts. It was a goal of ours for this beer to produce a completely different hop profile than any beer Boulevard had previously brewed, so Amarillo and Simcoe were chosen as the impact hops for this beer. It’s true, Tank 7 does feature Amarillo, but the Simcoe added a pungent, punchy character that changed the aroma and flavor quite a bit. The dry hopping was supplemented with Citra to deliver a bigger, fruity, citrus character.