Rogue Dads Little Helper

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: Malt Liquor
Newport, Oregon USA

Bottle. Clear amber with an average frothy white head that was mostly lasting with good lacing. Moderate sweet malty and hoppy aroma. Light to medium body with soft carbonation. Medium sweet flavor with a medium sweet finish of short duration with a small alcohol bite.

Pour is a clear gold with no head at all. Aroma is corn syrup sweet with some alcohol in there. Flavor is heavy and cloying with some corn and a super sweetness that does not go away. Its malt liquor in a prettier bottle. My Dad would not like this.

22 oz bottle-pours a foamy white head. Color is yellow with effervescence. Aroma is sweet grain. Taste is sweet grain, scotch, chemical-diactyl. OK carbonation. Spot on creating a bad beer style.

Very sweet. Sugary, even. Bright fruitiness. Pear, I guess. Definitely corn. Not sour and rank, as some corn flavor is, but still not very good. Really no hop character. Might have made an interesting beer if the hops played a role. However, in the tradition of a malt liquor, the hops are very subdued. I can’t even call this refreshing. The heavy sweetness is just too much. Not quite syrupy, but the mouthfeel is thick and heavy. Maybe some honey. alcohol is poking through, which is pathetic for a 7% beer. Chances are I won’t be able to finish this. Probably one of the best malt liquors made, but that doesn’t say much. I feel bad giving this a terrible rating, since it’s not like Rogue screwed up. They made exactly what they set out to do. It just wasn’t a very good idea.

Sample at AleFest Dayton: Kudos to DFH and Rogue trying to bring some respectability to this style. The beer is an orange/gold color with a medium off-white head. Thin patchy lacing. The aroma is of course malty, with some dough and fruit. Medium-bodied and saccharine sweet with a lot of malt and corn flavor. The finish is grainy and sweet. Despite being made by great breweries, I just can’t get into this style.

In the bomber bottle at HyVee CB. Pours a rich golden color with a poofy white head of ethereal staying power. Aroma is an olfactory sizzling corn grain rasp. Flavor is malty sweet with an odd medicinal chemical bite. I think they were trying for these tastes and achieved it. I would rate this much higher if it were sold for $0.99 or less as other malt liquors on the shelf are. As a concept, I think the craft big boys need to abandon the "I know, let’s make a malt liquor" game. The novelty is old. unless of course, they decide to put a rebus on the cap liner. Then, I’m all for it.

Pours with a diminishing white head, lots of bubbles, dark yellow clear color. Aroma is corn, flour, light metallics.Taste is malt dominated, lots of corn. Foul bitterness combined with slight oxidation. Heavy body. Astrigent finish. Not a whole lot better than your average BMC ML.

Yuck. Why a good brewery would purposely make a bad beer is beyond me. I like the ode to father’s day, but why a malt liquor? A lawn more beer would have been much more appropriate and, for that matter drinkable. It has a nasty corn sugar taste on the backend. Corny swill like this should at least be balanced. Booo!