El Rojo Diablo
Bullfrog Brewery

El Rojo DiabloEl Rojo Diablo
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Bullfrog Brewery
 
Pennsylvania, United States
Style:
Wild Ale
ABV:
8%
Score:
77
Avg:
3.23 | pDev: 28.17%
Reviews:
27
Ratings:
43
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Apr 13, 2014
Added:
May 02, 2009
Wants:
  23
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by markasparov:
Photo of markasparov
Rated by markasparov from District of Columbia

1.25/5  rDev -61.3%

Apr 12, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3 by oline73 from Maryland

Apr 13, 2014
 
Rated: 2.75 by mendvicdog from Maryland

Apr 12, 2014
 
Rated: 2.25 by duceswild from Heard & McDonald Islands

Apr 08, 2014
 
Rated: 2.25 by bum732 from Lesotho

Apr 05, 2014
 
Rated: 1.25 by jtladner from District of Columbia

Apr 05, 2014
 
Rated: 1 by westcoastbeerlvr from California

Jan 10, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by ObeMaltKinobee from Illinois

Oct 28, 2012
 
Rated: 3.75 by t0rin0 from California

Sep 09, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by mdfb79 from New York

Mar 23, 2012
 
Rated: 3.75 by mikereaser from Pennsylvania

Mar 18, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by nmann08 from Virginia

Jan 08, 2012
 
Rated: 2 by Rochefort10nh from New Hampshire

Dec 06, 2011
 
Rated: 3 by ygtbsm94 from Utah

Nov 15, 2011
 
Rated: 2 by monsterzero from Massachusetts

Nov 14, 2011
 
Rated: 4 by CaptinRedBeard from Pennsylvania

Nov 14, 2011
Photo of corby112
Reviewed by corby112 from Pennsylvania

3.94/5  rDev +22%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a dark hazy amber color with a thin fizzy white head that quickly disappears without leaving much in the way of lacing.

Vinous and funky aroma with hints of earthy oak, cream and dark fruit. There's a subtle vanilla presence with hints of cherry, grape and other dark berries.

Medium bodied with soft carbonation and a slight lactic, creamy texture. Slightly tart but not overly funky or puckering with a strong barrel presence and lots of vinous dark fruit. Hints of toasted oak with a prominent vanilla character followed by subtle funk and lots of sweetness from the fruit notes. I'm picking up raspberry, grape, cherry and other berries. I was expecting more funk/sourness but it's pretty tame. More sweet/vinous than anything without any harsh acetic quality.
Nov 05, 2011
Photo of orangesol
Reviewed by orangesol from Pennsylvania

3.92/5  rDev +21.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Thanks once again go to Deuane for this one. I had one of these about a year ago and didn't care for it very much. This must have been one of the "good" bottles.

A - Pours reddish brown with a stark white one finger tall head leaving spotty lacing down the glass.

S - Smells of earthy funk, vinous red wine, lightly toasted caramel malt, dulled tart fruit, and some dry oak tannins. You can really tell this was in a Cabernet Sauvignon barrel.

T - Starts off with a big dose of vinous red wine from the Cabernet Sauvignon barrels slowly giving way to a mix of brett funk, apples, caramel malt, dulled earthy hops, and lots of dry oak tannins. It is very dry but the light tartness helps to ease it a bit. The finish is pretty dry with a touch of tartness, lingering for some time.

M - Medium body and flavor with moderate carbonation. Dry, tart, feel with plenty of dry oak tannins lingering through the finish.

O - Not too bad. I have had better from Bullfrog but this was far from terrible. If you go into it without any expectations it isn't too bad but if you do, then you might be let down big time.
Aug 04, 2011
Photo of rye726
Reviewed by rye726 from Colorado

4.13/5  rDev +27.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Up for review is a 750ml bottle of El Rojo Diablo. Served at cellar temp in a snifter. Always enjoy the barrel aged sours from Bullfrog.

Pours a hazy brown with a silky tan head. Nose has tart fruits, earthy funk, oak, red wine, caramel malts and some subtle floral hops. Taste is a nice balance of sour yeast, cherries, plums, wooden wien barrels and again a subtle bitter hop presence. Medium body drinks well. Finish a bit thin. Nice refreshing sour, lively.
Mar 02, 2011
Photo of ccrida
Reviewed by ccrida from Oregon

2.31/5  rDev -28.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2
Received on request from johnmichealsen a while back (thx!), poured into my large Gulden Draak tulip. El Rojo Diablo is a chill hazed ruddy bronze with an off-white head leaving scattered lace.

Smell is very phenolic and vinous, potpourri, but not in a good way.

Taste is pretty strongly dominated by the cabernet sauvignon, and not funky or sour at all (in spite of their labels proclamation to do wild beers). This is basically a strong ale age aged in wet wine barrels. Which I suppose is fine (conceptually, if not in execution), but not what I expected or would have had John drop over $25 on for. This brewery is pretty much swinging 0-fer IMHO. I first had their biere de garde in Pittsburgh in like spring of '07 and thought it was fine for a then unheard of brewery, but nothing special. I then had a taste of magic beans a year or two later when they were first blowing up and thought it was fine, but in was in the minority of that tasting (where my cohorts seemed to know more about bullfrog's hype), and only appreciated it as an experimental saison. The 3 bottles I had John seek out for me (at no insignificant cost or effort, which I appreciated greatly), have all been pretty weak.

Mouthfeel is tannic, a bit oily, medium-heavy bodied. It's funny how I find the score of this category drastically influenced by the others, que sara.

Drinkability is kind of slow. This beer has a real richness from the wine barrels. In spite of whatever intentions they may have had from the barrels funking it out, that never happened. The price makes it's laughable, it seems like they could have taken a bunch of 2-row sugar, feremented it quickly with a chico ale yeast and aged in on oak chips soaked in two buck chuck.
Not Impressed sums it up nicely.
Jul 08, 2010
El Rojo Diablo from Bullfrog Brewery
Beer rating: 77 out of 100 with 43 ratings