Last weekend at SHABAM, Big Rock served up a new edition of its long-gone Magpie Rye Ale. It still maintained a subtle touch of rye sharpness, and, if my memory serves me, is a lighter in body than the original version, which was retired more than 5 years ago.

Today Canadian Beer News is reporting on a suspicious Tweet by the Big Rock folks that suggests that Magpie may be making a return. I can offer a little more detail on the news. At SHABAM I chatted with one of the brewers and asked that question point blank. What I learned was this:

They brewed this batch of Magpie on their new “test brewery”, which is microbrewery size, to see how it would respond. Will they replicate it on the big system? Maybe is the best I could get. They are seriously looking at re-introducing Magpie, at least as a seasonal, but he wouldn’t go as far as to commit it.

My guess? I think we will see it pop up at special events over the next few months, and if response is positive they may try a seasonal. I highly doubt it will ever make the regular line-up as rye offer a sharp and grainy flavour and body to beer, which limits its attraction.

However its return, even in a limited form, is a positive thing, and I sincerely hope we see more innovations like this from the Big Rock folks.