Rogue Brutal Bitter

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

Bottled. Honey-colored pour, with a nice, off-white head. Fruity, citrusy, sour nose with a hint of alcohol and a very nice dry, hoppyfinish.

From bottle. I’ll tell you what, I must LOVE american hops. I absolutely love this beer, it is the epitome of an ESB for me, even though it is american style :) I love the spicy hoppyness, I wait for the chance to use Crystal hops for an ESB of my own.

this bottle was a little on the old side. there was no freshness date on the bottle but the store tagged it back in april, and it was not refrigerated.......anyway, the beer was not as crisp and puckery as the last time i had it, very cloudy orange color. heavy grapefruit in the aroma, less grapefruit in the taste than i remember, and less bitterness. also tasted a little roasted tobacco, faint coffee, a hint of cardboard......great beer......it is the shiznit-o-bam if you can get it fresh.

Bottle from TJ’s. Trying to get around to rating some of the beers I started my career with. Muddy, orangish tan with thin white lace. Aroma is slighty hoppy with a nice malt character. Flavor is dead-on for the best esb’s I’ve had. Slightly hoppy with a nice bitter finish amidst and slightly thick body. Alcohol well hidden, and a nice bitter, hoppy finish. Hops aren’t overdone so much to make this an ipa like some esb’s are. Rogue’s best non-stout in my opinion.

I liked this one a lot. Pours amber with a medium head. Just the right amount of hops, makes the tongue cringe a bit but the eyes don’t water.

12 oz bottle. Poured a lovely hazy orange color with a bubbly white head that laced the glass. Aroma is full of sprucy hops and caramel malt. Well balanced hop and malt flavors; mellow caramel with a dry fuity note and a tangy hop finish. Not brutally bitter, but very good nonetheless. Yum.

From a distinctive 22 oz. Rogue brown bomber bottle with info and a blurb on the right side of bottle, sampled in a Rogue pint glass. Made a good appearance, poured a cloudy orangey copper with a fluffly white head that settled into a thin lacing, moderate carbonation overall. Had a piney and orange peel rind nose with a faint caramelized maltiness and, of course, the distinctive Pacman yeastiness. A crisp, hop coarse on the tongue and creamy smooth full bodied mouth feel, very good drinkability. Very tasty, sweet piney mixed with orange rind, a smooth biiterness with a touch of roughness, some oiliness as well, a sweet caramelized maltiness that starts to balance the taste in the middle along with a dryish Pacman flavor and an oily and sweet malty finish with the hop flavor lingering in the palate. An excellent ESB from Rogue, one of my favorite brewers, tasty with a smooth, balanced bitterness and distinctive Rogue flavors, a must try.

Orange, hazy/cloudy appearance. Organic-sprucelike, citrusy hop aroma. Big hop bite with citrus, grapefruit, grassy, very bitter taste.