Field Work: Mountain Rye

An experimental ale using an ancient perennial grain selectively bred and grown by the NSW DPI's Research Station.     

An ale made for research and development, Field Work: Mountain Rye aims to highlight the characteristics of the malted true perennial progenitor to modern rye painstakingly selectively bred and grown by Matt Newell at the NSW Department of Primary Industries research station in Cowra NSW.

We're particularly excited to share this beer with you, keen observers may recall the last time we used this grain (released in Oct 2021) we made a small ABV fresh ale attempting to showcase this raw perennial grain grown by the NSW DPI. It was well received then and had a really great spicy character to it.

Mountain Rye is a true perennial, meaning it is not a cross or hybrid of a modern grain and an ancient one… it just is an ancient grain that is perennial. It also has strong perenniality, meaning it yields a crop more consistently for multiple years after sowing, with this varietal potentially cropping for 8 years. Late last year, Brayden represented Wildflower out at the DPI's Cowra Research Station for a gathering around this and other perennials in research stage, The Guardian wrote about that here.

This release, under the Field Work banner, was made using 33% malted Mountain Rye and 66% Organic Schooner Barley... similar proportions to the '21 release but malted instead of raw grain. Stu at Voyager Craft Malt was able to do a small run to test the Mtn Rye for maltability and this year we see a beer with higher alcohol (more fermentable sugar) and a more balanced, rounder palate.

Meesh's tasting notes: An incredible, unique nose. All fruity esters and sweet spicy rye character. Gentle and lifted on the palate. Leads with sweet grain, but also showcases a lot of classic Gold stonefruit character. It's round, and it feels like it lingers forever, with just a touch of bitterness to close.

120 bottles available online.