Voodoo Doughnut Pretzel, Raspberry & Chocolate Ale
Rogue Ales

4/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

At last, the last of my Rogue/Voodoo Donut backlog & frankly, looking at some of the price tags on these, I am surprised that I pulled the trigger in the first place. These enameled bombers mean that I am unable to see what it happening inside, which never makes me happy. OTOH, many of them have mellowed nicely during their wait for me to get to them. Let's see how this one fares!

From the Bottle: "Ale Brewed with Pretzels and Natural Flavors Added"; "Dedicated to Tres & Cat Daddy, the Rogues of Voodoo Donut"; "[Pairs with:] Donuts, Cheesecake"; "Brewed Using 13 Ingredients: 2-Row, Munich, C120, Chocolate, Black, Kiln Coffee & Rogue Farms Dare (tm) Malts; Rogue Farms Rebel Hops; Pretzels, Natural Raspberry Juice, Chocolate Extract, Pacman Yeast & Free Range Coastal Water."; "No Chemicals, Additives or Preservatives"; "Oregon Brewed[,] Established 1988[,] Oxygen Fixing Caps"; "13.5° Plato*31 IBU*73 AA*78° L"; "100% Pure Rogue".

I Pop!ped off the cap & started a slow, gentle C-Line pour since I could not see what was going on inside of the bottle. I was impressed by several factors, not the least of which was its formation of just under two fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, deep-tan/light-brown head with decent retention. Color was Dark Brown to Very Dark Brown (SRM = > 27, < 34) with NE-quality clarity & garnet highlights. Nose definitely smelled of chocolate & Black (NOT Red) Raspberries! Mmm. I wasn't getting the pretzels, but what would they smell like in beer? Other than the salt, they would break down pretty easily & just become fermentable sugars. No? Hmm. This was primarily milk/sweet chocolate with black raspberries, at least on the nose. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, not quite creamy, but definitely big in the mouth & on the tongue. Time had clearly mellowed this one into something that was quite drinkable, given so many of the older, previous reviews. It was like biting into a raspberry-filled Lindt Lindor chocolate! Theirs are dark-chocolate enrobed where this was more towards milk chocolate, but who's quibbling at this point? I guess that I have to, after looking at the style description. I will grant that it may have been an American Brown at its base, but the adjuncts were pulling it away from that base. No caramel & very little-to-no hop presence means that I have to dun it if reviewing to style & not to personal taste. 8=( Finish was sweet, but not so sweet as to be cloying, which would have totally put me off. It was mosdef a dessert beer, but what would you expect, given all of its adjuncts, meant to mimic a donut?!? I might not want it as a donut for breakfast, but as a dessert beer with some coffee? Yes, please! YMMV.

Oct 10, 2019

1.06/5  rDev -69.9%
look: 2 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1
by Jugs_McGhee from Texas

Review from notes taken in 2015:

750ml pink painted bottle with a branded pry-off crown cap served into a highball glass.

No bubble show forms as it's poured.

HEAD: No lacing. No head.

BODY: Brownish cola-red. Off-putting. Opaque. No yeast/sediment is visible within.

Appears undercarbonated. Unappealing. I'm not looking forward to trying this.

AROMA: Doughnut. Cloying sweetness. Artificial raspberry filling. Malt extract. Artificial fruit. Sugary. Faint cocoa.

Mild in strength. I find no over yeast, alcohol, or off-notes.

TASTE: Raspberry and vague artificial fruit. Disgusting sweetness. Loads of malt extract. Inauthentic, shrieking artificial flavours.

A chaotic imbalanced mess of a brew. I find no pretzel flavour at all...just off-putting cloying sweetness.

Syrupy blackberry puree. Cough syrup-redolent. Malt choices were poor. Lacks any genuine chocolate.

Depth of flavour is horrid. Flavour intensity is mild.

There's some alcohol warmth in there too, and I'm not liking this at all. The cloying sweetness really brings this beer down. Poorly built stuff.

TEXTURE: Smooth, flat, thin, lumpy, inconsistent, wet, unrefreshing. Too syrupy. Overbearing and heavy on the palate.

Not oily, gushed, or hot, but certainly boozy.

This texture doesn't work at all.

OVERALL: Downright disgusting. I didn't find the pretzel I was hoping for, and even with four people at the tasting this is being served at, we'll be hard pressed to get through the bottle. Truly awful.

F (1.06) / AVOID

Apr 19, 2017

3.03/5  rDev -13.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
by stevoj from Idaho

There’s a time and a place for this beer, and it’s definitely a dessert beer. Individual flavors stand out nicely, but it’s overly sweet and syrupy. Might make a nice ice cream topping.

Dec 12, 2016

3.66/5  rDev +4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
by Libeertarian from Montana

From notes taken 04/13/16:

Semi-opaque, dark brown. More like a Porter or Stout in appearance. Creamy, film-forming, light brown head of moderate retention. Smells predominantly of milk chocolate, maybe the beginnings of some tart, dark, fruitiness. Very much the same on the palate, but some light coffee and toffee notes, and tartness slightly more forward than in aroma, but almost more metallic than fruity. I was hoping for more overt raspberry, or even pretzel. That said, as a Brown Ale, this is quite good. There’s a subdued toast and bread character, that may be imparted from the pretzels, so that’s something. Light leathery, earthy hopping, and some peppery goodness, brought out in the finish. Medium- to full-bodied, spritzy but thick at first, mellowing almost to velvet. Mildly astringent and acidic, making my teeth chalky.

Apr 17, 2016

3.56/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 2.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 1.75 | overall: 3.5
by q33jeff from New Jersey

**
08/26/2014
Aroma: raspberry and chocolate, a great combination. Appearance: black-brown. No head. Purple-ish hue when down to 1-2 oz in glass. Taste: medium bitter chocolate with fruity finish. Malty.Feel: mostly flat.Best of the rouge-voodoo set. Shared bottle with family on vacation with dessert of chocolate croissants, sticky buns, and white choc mac nut cookies. Yum."
**

Mar 25, 2016

3.92/5  rDev +11.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
by hoptheology from South Dakota

Pours an initial toffee color but forms a dark chocolate brown in the chalice. The head is beige/creme colored and 3 fingers high, leaving broken lace behind.

Aromas of cocoa powder, a little salt, bready pretzel, and a touch of raspberry sorbet. Maybe a little banana too? Just overall frutiness with lots of chocolate.

Flavor is not horrible; it's got a sort of two dimensional chocolate covered pretzel which really gets loud at the finish. In between there are notes of cocoa powder, baked malts, dashes of salt, and estery yeast. It actually drinks like a very nice tasting porter. Each sip is different, this one here just revealed a bunch of raspberry. It's like drinking a mystery.

Feel is highly carbonated with a nice mineral quality to it, a touch of dryness towards the end.

Overall, this is my first Voodoo Doughnut beer, and it's not really all that bad. If you look at it as a porter rather than a mishmash of ingredients, it actually remains quite enjoyable. The price tag is hardly justifiable though, but I'm glad I got a chance to try this.

Feb 08, 2016

2.17/5  rDev -38.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1.75
by HerbGuy42 from Washington

All I tasted was astringent bitterness and what tasted like a very artificial version of raspberry. No balance; flavors do not blend smoothly. Yuck. Just yuck. I have had some excellent beers by Rogue. This is not one of them.

Feb 03, 2016

3.18/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
by wac9 from Pennsylvania

the beer is dark taste better then then lat raspberry beer i had more chcolate and raspberry at the end of te beer

Dec 27, 2015

3.52/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
by chinchill from South Carolina

Aroma: raspberry-chocolate candy

Flavor: raspberry, chocolate, medium and dark malts in a mix with much better balance than the aroma suggests. Adequate hops to keep this from being too sweet overall, although it does hit the tongue with a lot of sweetness.

Feel: medium body with low carbonation and seems a tad too low.

O: interesting and strongly flavored.

Dec 27, 2015

3.85/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
by Zephan from Texas

Purchased a bomber that had been on the shelf a few months then I sat on it for a few more and probably shouldn't have. Smells exactly like it should raspberries and chocolate. Taste is overly sweet with the raspberries. Almost like shock top raspberry wheat. Blehk. Definitely not as atrocious though. I'm still enjoying it. No salty from the pretzels present. No pretzel noticeable at all which would balance it out nicely but that's probably my fault. I hope I get to try it fresh next time. Recommended if it suits your interests

Dec 26, 2015

3.66/5  rDev +4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
by Sabtos from Ohio

Fun bottle promising a lot of whacky craziness, turning around to deliver only a mildly flavored brew that isn't even what you'd think it'd be. It's WAY lighter, for one, there's no pretzel, the chocolate and raspberry lie far behind some nutty earthiness, and it's almost medicinal. That said, it's still somehow enjoyable, but barely so.

Dec 24, 2015

4.26/5  rDev +21%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4
by DJDGB from Missouri

Now im not a big fan of dark ales as a rule. But this one was so unique I couldn't not try it. It is very chewy and the aroma is straight sweet. Once you are in it the flavor and feel makes this a solid drink. All the right flavor notes in all the right places with the chocolate and doughnut on the intake and a raspberry on the back end. The best part is that the chocolate did not overpower the rest of the flavor notes. Good novelty beer not a daily though. I recommend it.

Nov 05, 2015

3.98/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
by Brew_42 from Massachusetts

Pours dark cola color with a half inch tab head

Smells like chocolate and dark fruits

Tastes like chocolate up front. Milk chocolate too, this is a sweet beer. The raspberry comes next. Closer to raspberry jam, again, this is a sweet beer. Not much in theme way of pretzel. Some yeasty notes but nothing approaching pretzel. I'm not mad about it though.

Mouthfeel medium body

Overall- decent brown ale for those not averse to sweetness. I have only tried two of the Voodoo beers, the lemon one being the other and this one is a much more seamless weaving together of flavors. Worth a shot for sure.

Aug 18, 2015

3.98/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
by AllDayIPA23 from Georgia

besides being a really good looking bottle, this beer was pretty darn good. I expected an overload of sugar/sweetness, but Rogue did a great job making this beer taste just how the name described it. A lot of chocolate and raspberry in the smell. The taste has all of the chocolate, raspberry, breads/pretzel. But the best part is it really has a doughnut flavor. They were able to get the glazed icing flavor in there, to my surprise.

Didn't expect much when a friend bought this for me, but I would gladly get this beer again

Aug 06, 2015

3.91/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.25
by Yarmageddon from England

Interesting beer, a nice rich taste and good head, somewhat chocolatey but didn't get the raspberry that I expected. Good colour without a nice aftertaste. Overall, a nice beer, would recommend.

Jul 20, 2015