Rogue Brutal Bitter

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

Re-Rate: This is delicious. Could be one of those “If I had to pick one beer to take with me on a desert island - this could be it’ kind of beers. This is a very tasty ale. Is it an IPA or a bitter? Sort of that English variety flavor - but kicked up with some good NW flavor. Much better than most bitters out there - very tasty.

Frankly, I am surprised at the relatively low average score given for Brutal Bitter. This is one of the best beers I’ve tasted while keeping track on Ratebeer.com. The aroma is to die for, floral and hoppy. Brutal also gets a perfect score for appearance, with its copper color and off-white head. This brew is excellent, is quite hoppy, but not overbearingly so. Brutal Bitter has awoken my interest in trying other Rogue beers.

What a fine lookin beer! A glowing orange copper with a dense, rocky head. Aroma is citrus-like. The flavour is just a perfect balance of hops and malts, in fact I might prefer this to any ipa I’ve had...nicely done.

This is one of my all time favorite beers. Nice malt with a great hop finish. Has a head that just want quit. Only draw back is I have to drive 1 1/2 hour to get one. Its called an ESB, but it borders an American Pale Ale. If you haven’t had one, FIND ONE!

Watch out Brits, Rogue’s giving you a run for your money with this beer! If they had this on a beer engine, it would be an example of divinity on earth. Poured with a creamy, yet frothy and foamy off-white head that lasts forever with loads of lace. Color is an amber hued copper. Aroma is very malty caramel with lots of hop in a mix of British and American hop fragrances. Enticing! Flavor is vedy, vedy British with perfectly complimentary American flavs - rich malt, toffee, caramel, hops, bittersweet. a slight bit toasty. Body is to die for: full yet not too heavy. Finish is just right so you want to have another sip. Session beer extraordinaire.

Poured a stunning, hazy orange/copper color with a thick creamy head that lasted till the end. The nose was an intense perfume of grapefruit, florals, citrus zest and piney resins. Possibly the most satisfying nose i’ve ever encountered in an ale. The taste was a hoppy orgasm. Lip smacking bitterness starts as grapefruity hops storm their way into forground. Toasty malts softly coddle the tounge as citrusy orange zest ricochets back in. All of the flavors combine with symphonic perfection. The finish was a huge, bitch-slap of hoppiness with a final ghostly apperition of grapefruit pucker. There’s nothing "brutal" about this beer. Without a doubt one of the best beers on the planet. Period.

The aroma is both quite hoppy and quite malty, very balanced. The head medium thick but rather rocky, that dissipates rather quicly with very good lacing. Color is a light amber, with a slighty cloudy haze to it. Being from Rogue, I actually expected a lot more bitterness from this bitter, they typically are over the top with the hops. Not too say, it ain't bitter, it just not as much as I expected from Rogue. The bitterness is just slighty overtopping the malty and tasty brew. The bitterness starts up front and then melds into a softly malty taste, with a little bit of a hoppy aftertaste. A very quaffable brew from a brewer that tends to be too much over the top to be so.

- cloudy, orangey/amber color, highly hoppy, piney aroma, hints of fruit; highly bitter and hopped, strong taste of fruit – acidic like grapefruit, a bitter, yeasty aftertaste