Rogue Brutal Bitter

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Newport, Oregon USA

Impressive hop aromas and bittering lead this medium-full bodied ale. Slight grassy finish is pleasant over clean yeasty fruitiness and caramel. Another total winner from the Rogue.

This ale poured a cloudy, light orange colour with a nice, thick, creamy head. To the nose there are scents of full bodied hopps, yeast, citrus and grassy notes. First sip was smooth and a palate shocker. Very flavourful with flavours of pine, orange citrus and hopps. The finish was very pine flavoured with a palate that was the perfect bitterness. Great thurst quencher!

650 mL bottle from the LCBO. (The malts listed on the bottle don’t quite match those listed in the "Commercial Description" above.) Translucent amber-orange with a huge, thick, sticky beige head. The aroma is mostly hops: fresh sweet citrus and a little earthiness. Some cara-malt in there as well. The hops are there in the flavour as well, with slightly tangier citrus and pine being the most obvious flavours. And loads of tobacco. There is enough malt here to keep this from swinging into IPA territory. Nice bitterness at the end. Medium body and carbonation. Not bad. An American take on the premium bitter.

650ml bomber from the LCBO (WHAT?!?!?!? American craft-brews at the LCBO?!!?!??!). Pours a hazy orange colour, with a very large and sticky beige-white head. Aroma: Hops, hops, hoppyness, with a tiny but evident caramalt backbone. Flavour: Hops, hoppyness, hop flavour, lots of hop presence, dry hops, wet hops, smooth, sweet, caramel. Hops. This is a pretty tasty brew, I must admit. I wonder how many times I can say hops in one rating. I really like this one, and am downright startled that it’s available at the LCBO. Hops. I can’t wait for the Dead Guy to show up! Hops. I really love the Vienna malts in this one! Hop shortage. They add a nice toffee-biscuity character to the taste that I tend to love in beer. Hops. I would stock pile this stuff if it weren’t so GOD DAMN expensive. Hip Hops.

Review from notes. Poured into my Rogue pint glass. Dark brown-orange in color, with a fluffy off white head. Not much lacing. Aroma is quite sweet, with a lot of juicy citrus hops and sugary malt. Taste is mainly caramel/toffee, but there’s a nice floral hoppiness that complements it well. Finish is bitter but not overly so. Very tasty and very smooth.

Bottle from LCBO. Nice deep orange colour, with a small white head. Smells and tastes of hops and fruit. Not overly bitter(as the name would suggest), but still sharp and clean. Very surprising, Very enjoyable. Will be drinking this again. Hopefully the LCBO keeps it around.

Pours a hazy orange colour white frothy cap that sticks around for the whole show. The aroma is straight up hops and citrus with some toffee maltyness that begins to become more prominent as the beer warms. The flavour is a pretty good reflection of that, with lots of hops, and citrus zest up front and in the middle, with a bit of malty caramel back bone that breaks through at the end. A tasty beverage with a lightly dry finish. My favorite ESB so far, just wish I could buy a six pack of this stuff, instead of the bombers they sell at the LCBO. Rogue has yet to dissapoint me, a beer only for the brave though. Every beer I’ve had by them so far is a good smack in the face of hops.

22oz bottle: Pours a beautiful clouded amber orange with an impressive sticky 3 finger cap Aroma is intense, apricot-grapefruit-grass over substantial caramel tones. Rich body silky smooth mouth feel, Big caramel malts in the front (not cloying though) surprisingly delicate fruity notes in the center mingle with increasing resinous bittering...finishes balanced and clean.... lightly drying with lasting metallic bittering. A very fine ale, nicely executed and easy to drink.