First Growth OREgasmic Ale

Thanks to Joe Wietlispach for giving me a bomber of this a couple weeks ago. I've found Rogue to produce some fantastic beers, and I was excited to find they make an organic, home grown ale! Tasted on a Thursday night in compliment of a Vegetarian Harris pizza!

Appearance: On the darker side of an amber with a slight tint of orange. Looks a bit muddied with a very prominent haze, while anything within remains difficult to see, carbonation included. The head is dense and strong, taking on a beige cream colored look. Soapy bubbles erupt among the dense foam. Lacing is layered down the glass.

Aroma: Rich caramel malt bill immediately from the get go. From there the sweetness merges with a mild fruitiness, reminiscent of plums, then to finish with a floral hop scent.

Taste: Again, the first half is dominated by caramel and even a bit of munch malt flavors. Even brown sugar could be in there as well. Overall the beer is well balanced, from my first impression, though gradually as it warms, it precedes to favor a more malt forward character. Hops are subtly citrus with a bit of sulfur as well as orange peel. Still dark fruit is highly apparent throughout.
Mouthfeel: Smooth feeling, but still with a slight separation between body and bubble. Tacky to the lips with a medium to heavier body and a soft texture. Drying finish.
Overall Impression: Another great beer by rogue. Especially when it comes to the quality of ingredients. But after this beer, I've begun to wonder whether they stray too far from a specific base recipe for all their "special" beers. I'm beginning to notice a typical character among all the bomber series.


87/100

XS Imperial Red Ale

Thanks to Joe Wietlispach for giving me this bottle at the brewery a couple weeks ago. I finally got around to reviewing it on Monday afternoon while brewing a Braggot made with Apples and pumpkin!

Appearance: Robustly red colored with a glowing clarity. Head is substantial at firs, but mellows down to a film with off white soapy bubbles accumulating on the sides. Lacing is wet and the beer looks relatively still within the glass.

Aroma: A very interesting flavor braces the nostrils. I cannot put an exact word to it, but it comes to me as a combination of toffee, leafy hops and isopropyl alcohol. Very earthy.

Taste: Hot, but smooth and even very well sweetened. Rich toasted and caramel malt constitute a strong flavored sweetness in the beginning, that ironically one doesn't get the full gist of until the very end. Midtaste is oaky, but still well rounded with a hint of chocolate and toasted barley. Finishing is a very dry, grassy and bitter flavor that comes with a huge dose of hops. As the beer warms, more plum light and dark roasted fruity ester emerge, intertwined with the complexities of the malt sweetness. Alcohol isn't too overbearing, and you can certainly get used to it enough that it takes a background factor under all the other rich flavors. Yum!
Mouthfeel: Extremely well textured. Carbonation is on the light side (at the tip of the tongue), but enough to fulfill a soft forgiving feel as it exits the mouth. Relatively a lighter body than one would suspect, but nothing is lost. Tacky on the lips and extremely dry and resinous in the finish.
Overall Impression: Rogue does it again. I wasn't expecting too much from this beer, but the flavor profile was succinct and definite with a simplistic yet huge sensory overload. Very well balanced and ...Palatable!

 
93/100

Dead Guy Ale

Thanks to Ryan Johnson for giving permission to take from the warm six pack from Ryan Biesterfeld's Birthday Party. For some reason I have never logged this beer, after the numerous times of trying it. The dilemma in these cases arises when I know I've had it because I've logged it in my hard-copy journal, but still that's another 200 beers I haven't reviewed on this blog! Anyway I tasted this Sunday afternoon following an hour of working on the garden/Organic corn field. Tasted in a snifter. And original thanks back in March of 2010 to Joe Murphy for introducing this one to me!

Appearance: Exemplifying a glowing coppered color with an orange hue. The beer initially starts off with a 1" fluffy off white foam head but soon collapses into nothing more than a foamed ring. Left behind is a dry foam lacing. An underlying haze is prominent throughout yet still some transparency. No carbonation visible.
Aroma: Robustly carameled scent pierces the nostrils. Above coats a delicately woody and pine smell with nuts and a brown sugared sweetness. A little bit vinous as well as some overtones of dark fruit. Some citrus scent as well. Almost a stale smell permeates the nose at the end, but it is oddly appealing/masked by the more predominating flavors. Subtly grainy
Taste: Huge malt backbone, consisting of caramel and toasted malt maintain the forefront of the beer. By mid-taste, the bittering and more complex flavors begin to integrate into the beer leaving a woody, pine and herbal flavor behind. Incorporates some characteristics of a red ale by way of bitterness and a brown by way of malt flavors. The toastiness really begins to come through as the beer warms, while the alcohol carries it through with a drying woody/tannin element. Dash of honey.
Mouthfeel: Carbonation is lighter and fluffy but still a slight spike is present, though as it goes down the throat, there isn't much to it. This beer is medium bodied with a drying character at the finish. Some stickiness to the lips as well
Overall Impression: A bigger but easy drinking and palatable beer. I see this one as one of the highest quality gateway beers for those who want to begin their craft beer journey. It boasts a huge malt flavor with a balance of hops, yet just enough to appeal to a big crowd. Tasted, caramel sweetness and a slightly citrus but dominantly fruity and tannin'd bitterness


90/100

Santa's Private Reserve

Thanks to Jen for getting this last week during our brew and tasting night. Tried this following a session of P90X in substitute for a morning run following class.

Appearance: Bronzed brown with semi-clarity but some haze left. Strong head that dissipates into a foamy tan film. Carbonation somewhat visible, but negligible.

Aroma: Spicy malt smell that incorporates a sweet potato aroma to it. There is some orange peel and ginger snaps with a splash of citrus

Taste: Spiciness is the first impression followed by a grassy taste in the back of the mouth. The astringency isn't very appealing, but the fore-taste reveals a lot in its complexity. By way it has a bready biscuit malt character with a ginger/nutmeg bitterness to complement the slight under bearing sweetness. The finish is slightly resinous and gives the beer a hotter impression than the alcohol actually conveys. I find somewhat of a coining flavor to the finish. Caramel malt emerges more as the bitterness begins to fade. The color gave me the impression there would be more malt umph to it, but this was not the case.

Mouthfeel: Very smooth and palatable. Medium to high body. Carbonation is stellar and really helps carry the flavor once the bitterness wares off and exposes more of the complexity within the malt profile.

Overall Impression: This beer lacked a bit in the sweetness it could have had to fit the winter ale line-up. The emphasis here was more on the hops and spices than the sweetness. It did however achieve a nicely warming sensation of most winter ales.

78/100

Yellow Snow IPA

Thanks to Justen Parris for recommending this beer to me from the bar. As one of the newest on tap ales at RIBCO, this was my second beer of the night. I usually don't go for the tapped beers just because I then have to print off the label and put them in the hard-copy log. But in this case, an exception was made.

Appearance: Golden straw color with minimal filmed head that quickly dissipated (within seconds from a finger of bubbly foam). Extremely hazy with no transparency whatsoever.

Aroma: Voluptuously citrusy with an added puckering fruitiness to the aroma. Maybe a little grainy, but predominantly reminiscent of tropical fruit.

Taste: Immediately reveals that tropical zestiness foreshadowed in the aroma. Of oranges and more so of grapefruit (Calder, you would like this). The bitterness is probably the most pronounced citrus bitterness I have encountered. The pinnacle of Amarillo Hops. Malt flavor is completely non-existent up against the monster zest hop taste. Gradually pale biscuit malt may seep through for the very determined. As for the complexity, this beer has a wealth of citrus/zest/tropical flavors layered against each other. The bitterness dominates

Mouthfeel: Body is light and texture is fluid and refreshing with a crisp finish. Generally the dominant citrus flavored hops emit a very flavorful bitterness, that ultimately leaves a resinous finish on the palate. Carbonation is moderate.

Overall Impression: Though the malt is no match for the hop profile, the alpha acids by the end begin to give one the perception of a sweetness of pineapple of grapefruit. A totally drinkable beer that leaves the mouth quenched and crisp.

90/100

Rogue Imperial YSB

This was a summer afternoon experience following the Quad Cities Bix 7 race. Was on sale at Hy-vee for 9.99 in a beautiful ceramic bottle with the wire pull top capping system.

Appearance: Snifter poured. Rubied red with a firm off white head that didn't sustain.

Aroma: Hints of Orange and other indistinct fruity esters with an accompaniment of sun-dried raisins and grapefruit zest followed by a bold caramel backbone

Taste: First reaction was to the overwhelming bitterness, nevertheless by 4th or 5th sip the dates and raisin sweetness started to strengthen and the bitterness mellow. Sweet malty pre-fermented wort flavors precede the grassy bitterness. Mixed in are roasted undertones and a dry biscuit sweetness that in fact begin to dominate the finished taste as the drink progresses.

Mouthfeel: Small prickles of carbonation help bring this beer to its full complex potential, exposing a light array of fruity and toasted flavors. Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy and the body is thick with medium tackiness.

Overall Impression: This beer develops extremely well and has a delicious session attitude to it. Throughout the taste, what started as bitter turned into a delectably sweet, yet balanced choco-roasted maltiness with a dry fruitiness to it. A great sipper.

92/100