Rogue Brewer

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: American Strong Ale
Newport, Oregon USA

Very dark brown with a beige head. Aroma is heavy into citrus with cocoa and roasted malts. Taste is more like a strong dopple with smoky peat, a nice sweetness and typical Rogue hoppiness. I’d drink this a lot if it wasn’t a one off.

Sampled at the DC/MD/VA/WV/PA Ratebeer Gathering 11/20/04. Cloudy brown with an off white head. Aroma is hoppy with chocolate. Taste has notes of burnt roasty malt, hops, brown sugar/molasses and some pine. Pretty bitter, needs more sweetness, ends kind of flat. Mouthfeel is full and round. Solid.

Hazy, copper ale with a large, frothy, tan head. Minimal lacing. Malty, toasty, complex aroma with notes of coffee, caramel, brown sugar and grapefruit with a hint of pine. The flavor is of heavy malt nicely balanced by bitter "left coast" hopping. Notes of caramel, smoke, beef, oak, toffee, pineapple, grapefruit and light molasses. Full-bodied with a creamy mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Lengthy, astringent, moderately bitter finish.

November 2004: 22 oz bottle shared with beerhugger, CapFlu, DumDum, tiggmtl, radiomb and Rastacouere in Ottawa. Very dark brown, little head..massively pungent, hoppy, slightly maple-sweet nose...the hops totally dominate the body, the finish is very dry, tart and tough. Early sweetness mitigates somewhat, but this is another hard-to-drink Rogue hopfest as far as I’m concerned. Might work better after 2 years of aging? I’m not eager to find out, despite the lovely nose. 8/4/6/3/14 3.5

October 2006, 10 oz draught goblet at Bryant Lake Bowl, Minneapolis. This time the aroma seems more toasty and burnt with heaps of licorice but the thick citric hops are still dominant....the body is super-rich and decandent with cigar ash, licorice, bitter orange and pinesap.....overripe fruits explode along with old port in the stunning finish. Wow.

Strong, spicy citrusy hops in the nose. Opaque, dark brown with tan head that recedes to ring. Sharp, tart, spicey hop flavour with complex malts and dark fruits. Resinous, orange-pine hops. Sweet but dry. Mouthfeel is a bit puckering despite the medium body. This is certainly a beer I’d like to spend some time with in order to get to know it better. Bottle enjoyed with beerhugger, CapFlu, DumDum, muzzlehatch, radiomb and Rastacouere.

22oz: Very dark brown, generous light brown head, mostly diminishing. It looks a bit like a hazelnut nectar and actually smells not unlike a blend from the hazelnut and crustacean. In other words, this aroma is fantastic, extremely complex maltiness comprised big smoked caramel flavours, chocolate hints and a huge multi-faceted hop profile. Deep lemony, orange, lime hints. Unfortunately, the taste didn’t quite live up for me, this was perhaps overly done in the sense that you feel much less development in the taste than the aroma. The former, while starting very malty, caramelic, smoky, spicy rapidly becomes a wall of dry brutal bitterness which gets harsh and simply too much. Quite astringent after a few sips. Thanks a ton to Beerhugger for such a rare opportunity.

(20oz bottle) Pours a beige head with an opaque body. Beautiful viscosity. Nose of strong brown sugar and hops. The flavours asharp and punchy. Delightful mix of hops, bitterness and citrus. Many thanks to BeerHugger!

Pours a rich dark, nearly opaque brown with a thick beige head. Aroma is a wonderfully complex mix of sweet caramel malt and piney hops with a mild touch of butterscotch. Starts full and malty sweet with toffee, butterscotch and milk chocolate flavors. Finishes semi-dry, bready, and crisp with great hop presense. Nicely balanced with good complexity. An excellent beer however you want to categorize it. Thanks Andre’!