Rogue Chipotle Ale

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Newport, Oregon USA

A Mes rate: 650ml bottle at home with Sim and Ang. Slightly murky amber with a thin oily off white film. Spicy malt aroma with some slight smokey notes. Quite thin and watery. Just a slight hint of chilli thank god. Really like the delicate smoke on the finish but in all honesty I’m struggling to find much I like in this one.

Nov. 2005 - Okay, I’m with eaglefan538...it’s not totally disgusting and given it’s ingredients, it’s not too bad. But come on, there are certain things that don’t belong in a beer and any kind of pepper qualifies.

Bomber. Pours a cloudy burnt orange with a light tan head, solid legs. Only a hint of chipotle on the nose, less than I expected, but still quite good. This one is a lot less "odd" than I was expecting. It tastes similar to many pale ales, but with a nice spicy follow-through that leaves my mouth wanting some Mexican food. Great with spicy food, but on its own, I’d never have more than 1 of these at at time or it could do harsh things to my stomach.

Pours a cloudy amber - kind of reminds me of a Belgian brew. Nose is muted, but with a touch of a sweet edge. Flavor is actually pretty damn good. Starts off with an almost overly sweet tone which slowly morphs into something smoky and clean. The smoked peppers actually keep in your mouth. Over time as it warms up the smokey flavors REALLY come out. Feel is a bit thin, and it is drinkable (though a 22 oz bomber might be a bit too much for one person in one sitting), even though this is a chile beer.

As a fan of both spicy food and smoked beers, I had been looking forward to trying this one and it did not disappoint. Poured from a 22-oz bottle a nice orange-amber color with an aroma of smoke and pepper. The taste up front was of smoke and a sweet malt. Pepper taste also came through. As the beer warms, the pepper seems to really begin to take over and becomes even more spicy.

THOUGHTS: In my opinion this was a better summer thirst quencher than Dogfish Head’s Festina Peche, but not as extreem as I thought it would be after having tired Cave Creek Chili Beer years ago. A pretty standard ale but very well done with just that little touch of heat that makes it different. A really well made beer. I’m not a big fan of Rogue. This is probably the first of theirs I’ve really enjoyed from start to finish. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a medium to dark amber with great carbonation and an average to large, creamy, off-white head that just about fully lasted leaving fair lacing on the first glass and good on the second. The aroma, which was nice but weak, was moderate caramel malt, light flowery hops, a little pepper and something slightly fruity. The initial flavor was lightly sweet, while the finish was moderately sweet, lightly bitter and spicey and sour with a short duration, except for the heat, which actually come in a second or two after the swallo and sticks around for quite a while. The more you drink the more it comes on. There was sweet malt with just a little hops in the finish. The light to medium body was lightly syrupy with fizzy carbonation and a spicey finish.

This is strangely good. I’d say it’s an excellent choice for the second or third beer of your night. But I wouldn’t order a second after I’ve had one, it gets a little old. You can really taste the chipotle in the beer - it’s actually a little surprising.

Got this as a mislabeled bottle on sale at Rogue’s Ale House in san Francisco for $3.00 Now I wish I would’ve bought a few more as I see my local Bevmo doesn’t have it. Guess it means I need to go back to North Beach and get some more. Oh well, worth another stop to Rogue Ale House. Our server said it had chili pepper flakes. Huh? I don’t think she really knew too much about this particular beer. Smokey. Nice to see something smokey other than a porter. Not spice. This is not Ed’s Cave Creek Chili Beer. This is an awesome amber with a really chipotle smoky flavor. Will buy again. If you are in North Beach, check out Rogue’s Ale House and perhaps they’ll have some more mislabeled beers on sale.