Rogue Brewing’s downtown Portland Portland Rogue Distillery & Public House is a must visit every time I am in Portland, and this time was no expection. The Kobe burgers alone are worth the price of admission, and bartending stalwart Corey always keeps things entertaining (and thankfully enforces the “No Cellphone Use at the Bar” policy. In addition to a few Rogue rarities, they were featuring exotic offerings from their newest sister-brewery, Buckman Brewery.
The ale opened with an extremely creamy, smooth malt profile spiced by fruity hops. A persistent but slight bitterness came through after the ale settled, and once the juniper came through it gained prominence and lingered in the fade. The gin-barrel aging certainly added layers of dimension to the ale.
The Imperial IPA opened with a Pliny-like in fruitiness. The sweet malt profile was somewhat marred by the taste of pine tar, ultimately keeping the beer from being more than “good”.
The flavor of this ale was rather light in the typical saison aspects (not much banana, pepper, clove, or horse blanket) but had a pleasant roasted malt core to it. This ale was much more like a black lager with a dusty finish than a saison.
Huge milk chocolate flavor… that’s about all there is to say. A little thick, semi-sweet.
This mead was floral, perfumey, and big on honey. It was also light, crisp, and dry in the fade.
This ale, a standard pale with chamomile added, exhibited a combination of bubblegum and barny yeast on the front and a dusty, slightly funky fade.
I believe this ale was originally called a “Bitter”, which is a more fitting description than IPA, but I suppose the hopping was just aggressive enough to turn off dedicated bitter drinkers.
Rogue Mole
My bartended chose a beer cocktail for my last taster, the Rogue Mole. The Rogue Mole is about 90% Rogue Chipotle Ale and 10% Rogue Chocolate Stout, and is amazing. I enjoy both the beers used on their own, but they were SO much more when combined. A highlight of the tasting.
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