Rogue Charlie 1981

Pours a slightly hazy coppery brown with an off-white head. Aroma is spicy, mainly of cloves, and malty. Flavor is malty and fairly hoppy, just a little bitter with more than a hint of cloves. Texture is lively and quite tingly.

Bottle from my back log. Dark pour with off white semi tan head. Pine and caramel malt aroma. WIth a bitter bite that leaves you tasting citrus. It was good.

Draft at Radio Maria in Champaign, IL. Pours amber with an off white head and good lacing. Nice medium body and mouthfeel. Flavor of caramel and toffee esque malts countered by a faded citrusy bitterness.

This was a draft pour at the Rouge Public House in Portland, Oregon. It came in the glass a clear copper with an off-white head and lots of lacing. Mouthfeel rich and creamy. Flavor of caramel malts with citrus and pine hops. Bitter finish. Very nice beer and easy drinking for this high ABV.

On tap @ The Sanctuary. Clear orange copper with a one finger light beige head, good retention. Citrus and lightly sweaty hops atop some toasted malts and scorched caramel. Flavor has some stronger scorched caramel though plenty of bitterness to back it up--also slightly more citrusy. Bitterness peaked at a 6 in the semi-dry finish, no trace of the alcohol. Medium body with light to moderate carbonation. Pretty good, nothing too special, though.

Not sure I can agree with the high percentile score that the beer has been given. Had this on tap at Taco Mac on Peachtree. Was listed as an Amber Ale? WTF? I am pretty sure that this was listed as an Amber, but as I guessed properly it is an ASA. Anyways, copper color, fairly transparent beer. There is a SLIGHT haze. Nice thin head sitting on top; looks like a good beer. The aroma is not extremely pungent, but it has a nice balance between the hops and malts. More malty than hoppy if you ask me. The beer starts with a nice hop flavor, but then settles into a decent hop/malt flavor that is decently balanced. The only problem is the biscuit flavor at the end. Wish it leaned more towards the hops, but the caramel malt and biscuit flavor to me is a bit off-putting. Overall, not a bad beer, but a little too malty for me. I was expecting more of a hop profile. Not a bad texture. Decent brew.

Enjoyed on tap in a whiskey snifter. The beer pours a light copper, with a small white head. The Amarillo hops add a nice note of piney/citrus to the nose, and some malt character is detectable. The palate is a nice balance of strong bitterness, accented with character malt-derived sweetness. The finish is nicely dry, and allows the beer to be extremely drinkable. Well done.

This one poured darker amber color with no head at all. Aroma was bittering hops, some piney notes, and malt sweetness. Flavor was more balanced than I would have hoped. Nice balance between bitter and piney hops and sweet slightly roasted malts.