No rogue Rogues for this rogue

 

Had no tastings to do for da boss for a while and then at the last minute he plonks 9 beers on me to try, all in one evening and a test match night as well.  I’ll quickly review the beers so then I can relax and watch some Prime time rugby.  Man, hard making a living these days!

The beers are all from an American brewery going by the name of Rogue which was one of the earliest craft breweries to establish themselves way back in 1988 starting from a bunch of home brewing mates.  The head brewer, John “more hops” Maier, has a caricature of himself on many of the different beer bottle labels and sports a distinct beard that is not at all dissimilar to our own illustrious Grocer’s beard.

Okey dokey, that’s enough about rogues and more about the Rogues.

 ‘Brutal I.P.A.’   Don’t drink this one out of the bottle as you won’t get the stupendous aroma of hoppy tangerines that intensifies the flavour taste experience from this malty award winning brew. The hops are there alright, (man, love those American hops) but maybe not as much as the name might suggest.  A Very well balanced full bodied IPA.

‘Dad’s Little Helper Black IPA’.  I’m a big fan of black IPAs and this doesn’t disappoint.  Long story short behind the strange name of this brew boils down to the naming of Father’s Day.  Big aroma of hops, dark full body with big white head, and an intense hop flavour with lingering bitter butterscotch that keeps on going.  So with Father’s day coming up shortly, this brew might be the bomb! (hint, hint, my good Mrs).

‘Yellow Snow IPA’.  Made for the Salt Lake City winter Olympics in 2000 this brew has a hazy clarity, medium body and a citrusy aroma, and man, there is hops all the way through it. Bitter till the end and then some.  Just the way I like it!

‘Chatoe Rogue Oregasmic Ale’.  The Rogue guys made this with their own home grown hops and barley which you would think should make this brew cheaper, but isn’t!  None the less, a fruity aroma with a good amount of hoppy flavour, malty background and good body.  Excellent ale and maybe the pick of the night?

‘Juniper Pale Ale’, I’ve no idea what juniper berries taste like but this brew has a uniqueness about it that is very drinkable.  Big on effervescence and a good hop flavour coming through with those unusual juniper berries.  After the whole bottle I still could not come up with a taste description that would do this brew justice so I’ll leave it up to you: suffice to say that it was world beer champion in 2010 and 2011.  (I wonder if the world beer championships have the same rankings as the world baseball champs i.e., only American competitors?)

Chipotle Ale.  A chipotle is a smoked chilli pepper from Mexico and definitely makes this fellow a spicy little number.  A beautiful clear reddish colour with malt and hop aromas and quickly dissipating head.  The peppers almost give a medicinal taste to the brew and may be off-putting if you’re not used to spicy brews; the resultant heat gives a looong aftertaste.  This brew could be the go as the sun settles on the BBQ and the air starts to get cooler?

‘Hazelnut Brown Nectar’.  This brew is just like drinking pecan pie from a bottle.  A real nutty caramelly aroma with this brew and has strong tastes of chocolate hazelnuts that are very pleasant and quite sweet.  Definitely a dessert beer with such a richness that you only need one.

The ‘Voodoo Doughnut’ a bacon maple ale.  Sounds mental and tastes mental.  This brew is so far off the planet that it’s tipped off the edge of the universe.  With a pink spray painted bottle and wacky flavour combo’s you’re better to leave the shop with this bottle in a brown paper bag.  Personally, to save the embarrassment of carrying a pink bottle, I would have painted this Rogue red.  Easily identifiable smoky bacon flavour with a sweet maple finish.  This could be a breakfast drink but with 6.5% Abv you’d need a pool and deckchair to cope with the rest of the day.

‘Morimoto Black Obi Soba Ale’.  Big frothy head and dark clarity.  Some complexity here, with a variety of malts and hops used in the making resulting in a crisp hop note with lingering chocolate vanilla nut malt flavours.  A lower 5.3%Abv it could be a good second half beer.

Apart from the crazy pink one, all these Rogues live up to the brewmeister’s middle name having a big hop character which I’m a fan of, so for this rogue there are no rogue Rogues and everyone a gem. Now I can get on with that other R word, rugby!

Denis “no relation to Quaid” Cooper

Oxymorons

So, not much blogging after a hard week of late night finishes and no time for perusing the lollyshop taste temptations. After a particularly stressful shift I needed a cheer beer, so I’m soon off to the lollyshop to pick me out a treat. Not sure what I’m in the mood for so I’ll cover all bets with a black I.P.A.  Black Indian pale ale I hear you say. How can you have a black pale, isn’t that an oxymoron?  A black IPA is named from its roasted malts which are similar to a stout or porter beers yet still has enough hop flavour to retain the hoppy character of an IPA.

The chosen one was Funk’n’Stein from Funk Estate at a not to be sneezed at 7% Abv.  On its label shows a frizzy haired light brown grey coloured girl that was remarkably similar to the colour of the small quickly dissipating head produced when this brew was poured.  The liquid colour was definitely not a normal amber IPA colour but instead an intense dark red more akin to a stout. The aroma however was not of malt which you would expect from such a colour, but of a definite hop and maybe hints of mandarin?

I tried this baby just before tea, which normally I’d quickly polish off before eating, however the late night work shifts meant the good woman had tea ready and I was ready to devour it. With the first sip the initial taste was of smoky malt wood chips with only a slight after taste of hops lingering on the palate. Quickly tucking into a steak tea, I then took a few more swigs of the Funkenstein and wow, no more smoky notes but a much more richer malt flavour when first touching the tongue and then a stronger hop flavour coming through as you swallow and breathing out through the nose.

Homemade banana bread for dessert and I still had some of the brew left. After a slice I had another swig.  Wow again! This time still the rich malt, only now the hop flavour has reached a whole new level with a wonderful bitterness of mandarins coming through.

The black IPA from Funkenstein is like a taste hologram that’s different from any angle and these oxymorons will change their character depending on what you’re chewing on and in doing so, you will have forgotten all that stressed you out in the first place!