Rogue Brutal Bitter

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

Stick your tongue out…They’ve just tapped a bitter grapefruit tree!…Mouth-watering and refreshing creamy oranges for a savage beast which reveals its splendor whether you like it or not…It does not know compromise…My kind of session beer...

Draught @ GBBF 2005: Orange coloured. Hazy. Off white head. Citric and herbal nose. Floral, hoppy and herbal flavour. Some sweetness and fruitiness. Nice strong bitterness in the end. Is quite dry. Nice one.

On draught. Pours a golden amber. Starts out with a watery but potent hit of floral hops. Nice citrissy lingering taste. Goos as a session ale.

Bottled, 0.65ltr. Almost clear, golden beer with an off-white head. Lots of hops in the aroma, which don’t surprise me for a beer of 59 IBU’s. There’s also sugar, pinecones and some citrus. The flavor is a bit one-tracked, with mostly hops, but citrus and sweetness was also present. It feels lightly sticky and sweet in the mouth, quite full-bodied. Long finish with lots of hops. A beer I won’t be refusing to sample again. (060704)

From a 12 oz bottle. Hazy orange coloured beer, thick creamy head with great persistence. Aroma is fairly clean, light orange citrus with a bit of earthy/spicy noble hop character. A hint of lean maltiness. Flavour is spicier than the aroma suggests. A bit of orangey hops. As it warms the spicy hops really come to the fore. Earthy lightly bitter finish. Quite a nice brew, but I think I prefer UK versions. Tap. Cloudy amber colour, thin head. Aroma is lightly oaky, some mushroomy character. Flavour is fairly hoppy, earthy, woody flavour. Light toffeeish notes. Slightly sulfuric notes coming off of this one. Okay, but it doesn’t really do it for me. 6/3/6/3/11

Has a nice aged, malty and hoppy balance of aromas. Roasted peaches are the dominant aroma. Beer pours clear and medium amber in color. First taste is spicy, and as it passes to to the back of the mouth the bitter bite takes ahold. Wow, this stuff is fantastic. I enjoy those which try to tear apart my tongue.

Yes indeed. Hazy amber body with a thick head that layed the glass with "lace" as the drinking went on. This is a hophead’s vision of an ESB - serious herbal, floral, and citric hops in (and up) the nose. There is a sweet caramel scent somewhere beneath it all. The caramel malt remains as a firm backbone supporting the hop bitterness heaped upon it. As fellow rater Olivier_MTL so aptly expresses it, "Amertume prononcée en finale semblant marginalement plus élevé que le taux d’IBU indiqué." (My apologies. I couldn’t resist quoting his prior rating although I had scant idea what he was saying.) It is brutally bitter (for a bitter) in the finish, and I appreciate that.

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Pours a thick cloudy orange. Cascades of orange citrus, with a touch of malt buried beneath. Dry flavors in front with mild orange citrus with a grapefruit bite. Smallish cream colored head stick to the glass. Bitterness sets on the back of the tongue as the hops resins congregate and and sit and chat about things. After a few minutes the malt takes back the scene and pleads to send some more bitter refreshments. Gains a bit more balance as it warms. Nice IPA.