1001 Beers: Rogue Ales

1001 Beers: Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Shakespeare Stout, XS Imperial India Pale Ale, & New Crustacean

Not a brewery I was looking forward to but they have quite a few beers on the list... probably not true, but I think they have the most from any single brewery in the whole book... I would have to check that fact...



Beer Number 85: Dead Guy Ale

With one foot in the orthodox world of German lagers, Dead Guy started as a straigh-up Maibock called Maierbock, named for brewmaster John Maier, "We were brewing it at out Bayfront brewpub, and of course we didn't have a lot of tank space," says Maier, referring to the extended aging time that ties up tanks with conventional lagers, "so we thought we'd give it a try with our Pac-Man yeast. People like it."

I think it is funny I always compared this beer to Arrogant Bastard... I had no idea this was a Maibock, but whatever. Just throwing that out there.

I really didn't like this one and did not write good notes on the sample I had there, but I have never liked it ever since I first had it as I was getting into craft. Rogue is one of the breweries that I picked up a few of when I was first tasting beer. There was quite a bit of sweetness, I was expecting a big hop punch, but nothing... I guess it is just because of my expectations... I don't know, but this one is a pass.

Beer Number 86: Shakespeare Stout

Shakespeare Stout is an imperial stout that is one of Rogue's original beers. It is named to recognize the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which takes place annually over several months in the small, arty community of Ashland, where Rogue was originally located.

This one actually surprised me. I enjoyed it a bit and thought it was nicely made. The chocolate and dark malts really came together and made this an enjoyable taster. I might have tried this one in a bottle but I've had it now and it did not wow me enough to make it a "regular". Maybe one day I will try it again.

Beer Number 87: XS Imperial India Pale Ale

I2PA is the brainchild of Nate Lindquist, who worked as a brewer at Rogue in the early years. His first imperial IPA was slightly different to the current commercial version. "I tasted it and told him there weren't enough hops; it needed more 'oomph," Maier says. "We doubled the hops and changed some of them to American hops for that Cascade aroma."

So, I like IPAs, and IIPA's but this one was so malty, hop flavor but not insanely bitter like I was expecting, but it was hard to get passed the straight alcohol that was leaping out of the glass and everywhere you could imagine. This will get you drunk during your "session".

Beer Number 88: New Crustacean

This is one that used to go by another name and now it is called a different name. Old Crustacean will, for now anyway, be known as New Crustacean Barleywineish Imperial IPA Sorta... I guess I get the point because a lot of American "Barley Wines" are referred to as IPA's. I don't agree with this, but I understand where it came from. Everyone has their own take on everything but there are some things written in stone... or at least history so changing things around sucks.

Old Crustacean is a hefty brew, weighing in at 11.5 percent alcohol content and verified as having 120 IBUs by the Siebel Institute of Technology. The recipe comes from a barleywine-style ale that was first brewed in 1986 by Rogue's long-time brewmaster John Maier, when he was still a home-brewer.

This new recipe comes in at 9.8%. I was not really big into this one either. I clocked it in at 2.5 Crowns on Untappd. Maybe it being so fresh was an issue. They say it changes a lot over time but who knows. It was the Imperial IPA Sorta type beer right now. So, if you pick this one up, give it time. I can't say how long because I did not, but that is my suggestion with all Barley Wines... Except Horn Dog. Drink that fresh! You can age some though, I heard it is amazing aged.



913 Bottles Of Beer To Go!

Cheers!

1001 Beers: Boston Lager

One of my favorite places to go out and eat... just because Fondue is amazing, is The Melting Pot. They can get a bit on the pricey end but you never leave dissatisfied... unless you get a crappy waiter. I have not experienced that yet. Just throwing out variables. Makes sense, no? Well, Recently I was there and decided to have the beer flight with my Big Night Out. Mainly because I wanted beer, not really because I was trying to pair. The last time I was here I did the wine flight. I think there was one I really liked and I didn't really keep notes on them so it's whatever.

The beers for the flight were split between ones I have had many times before and ones that I have only had a few times. They were Boston Lager, Sierra Nevada Pale, Stone IPA, and Rogue Chocolate Stout. Honestly, I did not really see any correlation in flavor of the food to the beers that they presented but I guess I cannot be too mad. There were a few good selections.



The first course was just The Big Night Out Boston Lager Cheese Fondue. A little appetizer to get us going. Bread Fruit Vegetables, and Beer Number 19 Samuel Adams Boston Lager. I have only had this one a few times before, and I always say I am not really a fan of Sams so this was just a formality since you cannot substitute beers in the predetermined flight... not that they really have a beer menu anyway. Honestly, I found nothing interesting about it... again. Just another beer. A bit of floral hops in the start, a tad earthy and then citrusy... It was way better in the cheese than in the glass but I guess I can't be too picky, I did come here for the food.



The next beer was a classic. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I can't say anything bad about this beer. Though, I did not think it paired well with my salad... It wasn't bad, but for sure it was not thought out. Check out This beer Here.



Stone IPA is one I have had a few times and it actually fits into this series, but I will give it it's own post at a later date. It deserves one and will not go into this count. There is just so much to be said about this beer and this brewery, that I'd rather have it organized than just thrown together to get Boston Lager out of the way hah! I guess Lobster and Stone IPA is never a bad choice, but again, the whole coming together thing was just lost. My fault, or theirs???



The last beer, Rogue Chocolate Stout. I thought I had never had this one before, but a little search on Untappd proved otherwise. I am not really a fan of Rogue, but this beer was actually one I might buy get a pint of one day, and not just because I am at the brewery. Again, who ever made these pairing decisions should be fired but I guess the beer and the courses stood alone and that is what matters?

982 Bottle Of Beer To Go!

Cheers

1001 Beers: Juniper Pale Ale and Mocha Porter

Before this day I have only ever had a few brews from one of the most Popular West Coast Breweries out there, Rogue Ales. One of which being The Bacon Maple Ale, the others, a couple variations of Dead Guy, and a few John John Ales. It is unfair for me to judge the brewery based on those beers alone but I have had a... meh?... impression of them for as long as I have known about them. Luckily my favorite bottle shop in North Carolina, Bottle Revolution, gave me the chance to get a feel for what these people can really produce. I picked up a bottle of Juniper Pale Ale, American Amber, Hazelnut Brown Nectar, and Mocha Porter. I figured this would be a pretty good set up being they are essentially new to me and I never hit any of their breweries before moving out this way and a couple of them are part of my 1001 Beers Series haha!



The first one I took a taste of was the American Amber. It was a decent beer, very clean. The flavor was sweet, a bit like toffee with the hops really coming through in the finish. Again, decent. I know I shouldn't have but upon first taste I was like, "This is nothing like Fat Tire...".



Next I moved onto the Juniper Pale, Beer Number 16. It actually has a cool story behind it and kind of put some expectations into my mind... on the good end and the bad end of the spectrum.

Juniper Pale Ale was first brewed to commemorate the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I really appreciate that, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth as well. Was this brewed to appeal to the masses or for the love of beer... and adding juniper berries to it. Actually, one of the John John Beers I had, was the John John Juniper, and I loved that so I was expecting good things from this one. I don't feel that it lived up to that one, but then again I looked at them as two different beers. This one had an odd sweetness to it. I want to attribute that to the juniper but I have no way to reference it really. I thought it was pretty light for a Pale Ale, even with my "It should be assertive but not like one of those mass produced IPAs" stance. I guess being it is a "Winter Ale" some things are to be expected? It was a nicely brewed beer for sure. I actually preferred this one over the amber as of this point. But I was ready to see what else they had.



I don't know why but I chose the Mocha Porter next. Figured it made more sense to do a brown before a porter, but hey, what are you going to do? This is Beer Number 17. The thing that stood out to me on this one was the dark malt nose and the length of time the head lasted. It was kind of coffee-esque, but assertive nonetheless. Very impressive I thought, then again, that is to be expected from someone like Rogue?

The Mocha is a prime example of the U.S. porter style, a beer that was inspired by its English cousin but has burst out of the blocks with plenty of Yankee twist.

I thought this beer was really light for a porter and maybe I do not properly understand the U.S. style but it was nothing like porters that I feel represent it, i.e. Deschutes Black Butte. It went into my mouth like water. The dark malt bitterness creeped up at the end and a burnt, dry, coffee flavor lingered in my mouth. I was kind of disappointed with that one. Porter is one of my favorite styles and while I know they are not all great, this one just kept me wanting more. The beer grew on me more as I drank it but a lot of what disappointed me followed from sip to sip.



Finally The Nut Brown. This was my favorite of the bunch. It had a nice assertive bitterness but light and sweet at the same time. It was almost everything I look for in a brown ale. The malt did not come across as too dark, the light flavor working with the medium mouthfeel just set this thing completely right. This is for sure a beer that I would revisit. This whole time I was thinking that there would be nothing significant from Rogue that in this selection.

984 Bottles Of Beer To Go!

Cheers!