LOST IN CULTURES (Blue Point’s Rastafa Rye Ale at Ulysses’ Folk House)

My search for the best beer in New York continues….

 I drank a Jamaican inspired beer from Long Island’s Blue Point Brewery at Ulysses’ Folk House, an Irish themed pub on Stone Street, the oldest paved street in the former Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. Jamaican, American, Irish, Dutch. Whew! Talk about cultures colliding.

I’ve actually only been to Ulysses’ for their massive oyster festival every year. That overcrowded day in September is chaotic, so I’ve only been inside when I had to use the bathroom. This time around, I stopped by with a friend after a food cart tour and it was a lot more relaxed with room to breathe. We even struck up a conversation with the bartender, who clearly has a passion for his craft beer.

Up until recently, this was the only place on this street to carry anything other than the mass produced brews. Now there are quite a few taps to choose from. Not too varied when it comes to incredibly local options, but I was able to find Blue Point’s Rastafa Rye Ale, which I don’t usually see on taps. The bottle version is pretty prevalent at most bodegas.

As the gimmicky name implies, this is a rye ale and after doing some research, it turns out the only real connection to Jamaica (aside from the rastafarian dude on the tap) is that the brewery donates part of these sales to a charity that helps underprivileged children in the Caribbean. Beer working for good. That’s always a good thing.

The beer itself was decent, but nothing too special for me. It’s copper color was wonderfully light and transparent with a consistent stream of bubbles and a healthy head. The nose was malty with some hints of citrus and hops. The flavor was rather balanced with some spicy hoppiness up front, rounding out to a mellow rye sweetness at the end. The rye flavor was a bit subtle throughout, but the malt and hops were balanced enough to make this a drinkable beer.

After I left, I realized I should have ordered an Italian meatball parmesan sandwich just to throw one more country’s heritage into the mix.

Is Blue Point Brewery’s Rastafa Rye Ale the best beer in NY? I thought it was balanced and drinkable enough, but I wanted some more rye character and a little more pizzazz. That being said, it still gets an 8 out of 10.