Rogue Brutal Bitter

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

Bottle. Nice head with good duration. Color is amber. Aroma and taste are rich with hops and flowers. Good long bitter finish.

Poured a cloudy amber color with a tight white head and nice lacing. Nice citrus (predominantly orange) hop aroma. It's nice having a brew with one type of hop, it helps you learn what each nop smells/tastes like. Bitter grapefruit flavor. Nicely balanced

Bottle. Dark golden colour with a beige head. Aroma is hoppy. Flavour is hop and some sweetness.

2003 bottle. Nice light mahogany with some light yellow and golden hues. Lots of cloudiness and sediment apparent. Huge lacing. Smells of a hops/alcohol/citrus perfume. Hallertau and cascades together, wow smells hoppy and crisp, I’m expecting alot just based on aroma and appearance. And the flavor delivers. The lack of dry hopping provides an incredible velvety soft texture with perfect amounts of carbonation. Lots of hops that are bittersweet. Citrus/light pine up front that seems to last maybe a bit too long. I was expecting an over the top bitter from rogue, with too much hops, but it mellows out nicely. The malting is wonderful, I love maris otter and it provides endless balance without being too sweet or chewy. This beer has a great medium body that holds up better than most bitters towards the end of the glass. This beer reminded me much of Anchor Liberty ale, maybe a little less balanced? Not sure, im going to have to have a taste-off with the two. When you get that nice warm grapefruit hops flavor balanced by subtle malt, it dosent get much better. The complexity in this beer is outstanding and quite apparent when it has warmed to around 60-63 degrees. The beginning does seem a bit overpowering though, could stand to be toned down.
On draught at Anam Cara Feb 2005 Was very hesitant to rerate this. Seems like a vast majority of stuff I am retrying from a couple years ago has not been nearly as good. But this was delicious! I love the hops profile in this one, and the body and aroma are just as flavorful and fragrant as I remember. Good to see some brewers arent going down hill.
5/15/07 draught pint at Redbones.
Hmmm, actually this was a little disappointing. Especially on the aroma side. Quite muted, lots of bitterness without much of the aromatics/flavor. Body seemed a little watery and dextrinous, without too much interesting malt character. Seemed to get better as it warmed up. I’ll reserve any further judgment for now, but I’ll have to get a fresh bottle and see how it is.

First rating
(Bottle, thanks to Marsiblursi)
Sampled at a tasting night at Marsiblursi’s place. Clodu brown copper color, tan head. Sweet yogurt light pine scent. Bitter sweet taste, roasted aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel and bitterness.
7/3/7/3/14=3.4

Second rating
(Bottle at Bishops Arms, Örebro)
Shady golden color, white head. Hoppy and sweet scent. Bitter hoppy taste. Medium mouthfeel. Medium bitterness.
7/3/7/3/13=3.3

This is one of my favorites from Rogue. Really nice copper color with so much hops it is unreal. Lots of bitterness, flavor and aroma, which is very surprising considering they only used crystal. Malt is not really in balance but who cares. This beer rules!

(Draught) Sampled at Clark’s Ale House in Syracuse, NY. Sweet nuts, hi hops nose. Nice West Coast hops - very good and quaffable. Large white, foamy head with a deep amber-copper body.

335ml bottle (Gallows Bird, Espoo)
Rich orange, tiny head. Sweet malty and hoppy aroma - fruity and crisp. Slightly fizzy in the mouth. Very good malty body, sweetish, but really tasty hops. Well balanced. This is more like what an IPA should be like. Those wacky Americans have their definitions all skewed.