Rogue Imperial Stout

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: Imperial Stout
Newport, Oregon USA

As Rogue XS Imperial Stout, 11%, 750 ml stone bottle from Total Wine & More, Roseville. Pours a liquidy dark brown, opaque, with a large light brown head. Aroma is hoppy, then reveals a little chocolate. Pleasant aroma, though not too profound or complex. Flavor is again hoppy, but now there’s a lot more complexity: Ashy, tarry, and leathery, the flavor has resiny coffee bean oils, a little anise/licorice, and the bitter hops are always present. A little bit of tangerine peel comes around at the end. Burnt finish. Thinner viscosity for the style. Oily, less-carbonated palate. I was expecting something a little sweeter, not for better or for worse though. High quality impy. Not world class, but nice. Overall, excellent.

26 oz ceramic bottle, 2008. Inky brown with a spongy tan head leaving rings of lace. Nose is coffee, molasses and musty chocolate. Medium to full body with faint carb. Sticky and oily. Taste is dark chocolate, caramel, grapefruit and pine. Nice balance still retaining a substantial hop bite with a licorice finish.

Pours deep black with a beautiful brown head. Aroma of licorice, coffee, roasted malt. Flavor is chocolate, mild hops, roasted malt.

26th August 2008. Starts off smooth, silky with a little chocolate but then the bitterish coffee blooms and dominates. Good but has too rough an edge to be one of the great RISs. My bottle says 11.0% abv.

2006 vintage, ceramic bottle. Serving date: 2009-08-07. Pitch black with a small beige head. Some lacings. Lots of hard roasted malts, chocolate and coffee in the nose. Notes of licorice and dark fruits. Some alcohol. Roasted malts, coffee and dark bitter chocolate in the mouth, with notes of dark fruits and licorice. Some wood. The flavor is rather sweet, but there are some salt notes as well. The finish has an almost ravaging bitterness to it that together with a surprisingly prominent taste of alcohol runs havoc in the mouth. Notes of soy sauce and tannins. On the lighter side of full-bodied, smooth texture, gentle carbonation. A very good and powerful imperial stout. There are some pretty bold flavors going on here. Unfortunately, I think the bitterness in the finish was a bit too much. Interesting to note that the alcohol is still this prominent after three years in the bottle. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

Bottle 75cl. swing-top ceramic bottle @ home.
Clear dark black color with a average to large, frothy to creamy, excellent lacing, fully lasting, light brown head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, burnt, caramel, chocolate, moderate soap. Flavor is heavy sweet and bitter with a long long duration. Body is medium to full, texture is creamy, carbonation is soft. [20090818]

Disappointed for a Rogue. A friend and myself struggled to finish this one. Didnt seem infected. Too burnt and dry. Lingering cloying burnt with poor balance. Must have got a bad bottle but will be a while before I try this one again.

750ml ceramic swing top ’07 Vintage 11/14/09 (Binny’s Naperville)-Pours dark black with a big full tan head. Aroma of chocolate, coffee, toffee, licorice, and slight alcohol. Taste begins with chocolate, roastiness, and coffee that lingers throughout and it finishes with a bit of alcohol and bitterness. This full bodied brew is good but I was expecting more from the score and wondering if the age had anything to do with it.