XS Old Crustacean | Rogue Ales
Brewed by:
Rogue Ales
Oregon, United States
rogue.com
Style: American Barleywine
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 11.50%
Availability: Rotating
Notes / Commercial Description:
Formerly "Old Crustacean"
8 Ingredients:
Hugh Baird Carastan and Rogue Micro Barley Farm DareTM & RiskTM Malts; Chinook and Rogue Micro Hopyard Revolution & Freedom Hops, Pacman Yeast & Free Range Coastal Water.
25º PLATO
110 IBU
83 AA
57º Lovibond
Added by BeerAdvocate on 01-03-2001
View: Beers | Place Reviews | Events
Ratings: 1,280 | Reviews: 708
4.43/5 rDev +10.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
3.75/5 rDev -6.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.93/5 rDev -2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Cellared 5 years. Poured into a tulip.
Appearance: dark chestnut-brown with considerable haze. The head is a light tan ½ finger with good retention.
Aroma: sweet malt with hints of molasses and raisins. Alcohol is not readily detectable but you know its there.
Flavor: sweet – but not overly so, with molasses and raisins as in the nose. Alcohol is present, but it is more in the background.
Mouthfeel: medium-medium
Overall: this was enjoyable. A quality barleywine but not the best – really middle of the pack. I wouldn’t buy this again. It is good, but I’d prefer trying other breweries’ barleywines before returning to this one.
648 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Cellared 5 years. Poured into a tulip.
Appearance: dark chestnut-brown with considerable haze. The head is a light tan ½ finger with good retention.
Aroma: sweet malt with hints of molasses and raisins. Alcohol is not readily detectable but you know its there.
Flavor: sweet – but not overly so, with molasses and raisins as in the nose. Alcohol is present, but it is more in the background.
Mouthfeel: medium-medium
Overall: this was enjoyable. A quality barleywine but not the best – really middle of the pack. I wouldn’t buy this again. It is good, but I’d prefer trying other breweries’ barleywines before returning to this one.
648 characters
4.19/5 rDev +4.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
3.77/5 rDev -6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Red appearance with tan head that dedicates quickly and some carbonation. Aroma is a little sour fruit. Taste is a slightly sour fruit with no alcohol aftertaste.
164 characters
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Red appearance with tan head that dedicates quickly and some carbonation. Aroma is a little sour fruit. Taste is a slightly sour fruit with no alcohol aftertaste.
164 characters
4.19/5 rDev +4.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.12/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2013 vintage – ceramic bottle. Nice brown reddish color with a thin dark beige head with short retention.
Aroma with notes of molasses, pine, red berries, spices, tea leaves, mild cocoa and red apples. At this stage malt is starting to overcome hops here.
Flavor is sure more interesting. Notes of pine, molasses, char, wood, red berries and cherry, raisins, spices, cocoa, black tea, lemon, their pacman yeast, resin, earth, grapefruit and vanilla. Dry and bittersweet long aftertaste. Its 105 IBUs feels relatively under control, now that it evolved for a few years. But still able to counterbalance the strong malt base.
Full body with appropriate carbonation. Alcohol of 10.75% is well hidden and matches perfectly with the overall beer.
This is a hoppy forward and full of character American Barley Wine. A bittersweet black tea. It has a good complexity that reveals slowly as it warms up. This has aged quite well. And who says hops fade quickly, after four years still is able to punch. Maybe, when young it might be overwhelming for some. Don’t be a predator, drink this after aging!
Reference for the Style and worth trying, specially if you dig the style.
1,170 characters
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2013 vintage – ceramic bottle. Nice brown reddish color with a thin dark beige head with short retention.
Aroma with notes of molasses, pine, red berries, spices, tea leaves, mild cocoa and red apples. At this stage malt is starting to overcome hops here.
Flavor is sure more interesting. Notes of pine, molasses, char, wood, red berries and cherry, raisins, spices, cocoa, black tea, lemon, their pacman yeast, resin, earth, grapefruit and vanilla. Dry and bittersweet long aftertaste. Its 105 IBUs feels relatively under control, now that it evolved for a few years. But still able to counterbalance the strong malt base.
Full body with appropriate carbonation. Alcohol of 10.75% is well hidden and matches perfectly with the overall beer.
This is a hoppy forward and full of character American Barley Wine. A bittersweet black tea. It has a good complexity that reveals slowly as it warms up. This has aged quite well. And who says hops fade quickly, after four years still is able to punch. Maybe, when young it might be overwhelming for some. Don’t be a predator, drink this after aging!
Reference for the Style and worth trying, specially if you dig the style.
1,170 characters
3.77/5 rDev -6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
4.5/5 rDev +12.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
2016 750ml Swing Top
Appearance - Pours a slightly hazy, brilliant amber color with an off-white, finger width head. Fair retention, resulting in a thin, broken layer of suds and a thin ring around the edge of the glass. Not much lacing except a broken line found at the outset of the pour and a few spots here and there.
Smell - Complex aroma that hits on notes of dried apricot, toffee, leafy/tea-like hops, grapefruit peel, caramel, and even a faint hint of chocolate.
Taste - Ahhh, my bittersweet tasty friend. So complex, yet so harmoniously in sync with itself. Upfront, notes of caramel and grapefruit bitterness. Mid-taste sees the flavor shift to notes of dried fruit, toffee and a hint of floral hop character. Shifts again near the finish, moving more toward bitter notes of grapefruit pith and earthy tea leaf bitterness, while a touch of fruit and toffee sweetness hangs in to keep the brew from completely killing you with the sheer mountain of hop bitterness in the finish. The aftertaste buzzes with grapefruit pith, lemon zest and low, tea leaf bitterness. Lovely. Absolutely lovely.
Mouthfeel - Full-bodied with low to moderate carbonation, but with a slick texture that makes it a fairly smooth drinker. Dry finish; leaves a hint of stickiness on the lips.
Overall - One of my all-time favorite barleywines since I first started on craft nearly 15 years ago, I'd finally reviewed it June of '14, a bottle from 2012 (that I'd found at room temp on a shelf at a pit stop in the middle nowhere on I-5), and found it not quite as good as I'd always had on tap; the age (and possible mismanaged aging of it) simply did it no favors. I'm glad I bought the '16 version this year, and must say I now remember why I love it so much. It's sweet and bitter profile blends so wonderful it's like drinking a hop tea candy that tastes so much better than it sounds. At $18/bottle it's a steep price to pay, but damn does it feel worth it while drinking it. While I'm sure it ages wonderfully if kept under the right conditions, I'm unsure if I'd be able to do so. It's just so amazing when fresh!
2,107 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
2016 750ml Swing Top
Appearance - Pours a slightly hazy, brilliant amber color with an off-white, finger width head. Fair retention, resulting in a thin, broken layer of suds and a thin ring around the edge of the glass. Not much lacing except a broken line found at the outset of the pour and a few spots here and there.
Smell - Complex aroma that hits on notes of dried apricot, toffee, leafy/tea-like hops, grapefruit peel, caramel, and even a faint hint of chocolate.
Taste - Ahhh, my bittersweet tasty friend. So complex, yet so harmoniously in sync with itself. Upfront, notes of caramel and grapefruit bitterness. Mid-taste sees the flavor shift to notes of dried fruit, toffee and a hint of floral hop character. Shifts again near the finish, moving more toward bitter notes of grapefruit pith and earthy tea leaf bitterness, while a touch of fruit and toffee sweetness hangs in to keep the brew from completely killing you with the sheer mountain of hop bitterness in the finish. The aftertaste buzzes with grapefruit pith, lemon zest and low, tea leaf bitterness. Lovely. Absolutely lovely.
Mouthfeel - Full-bodied with low to moderate carbonation, but with a slick texture that makes it a fairly smooth drinker. Dry finish; leaves a hint of stickiness on the lips.
Overall - One of my all-time favorite barleywines since I first started on craft nearly 15 years ago, I'd finally reviewed it June of '14, a bottle from 2012 (that I'd found at room temp on a shelf at a pit stop in the middle nowhere on I-5), and found it not quite as good as I'd always had on tap; the age (and possible mismanaged aging of it) simply did it no favors. I'm glad I bought the '16 version this year, and must say I now remember why I love it so much. It's sweet and bitter profile blends so wonderful it's like drinking a hop tea candy that tastes so much better than it sounds. At $18/bottle it's a steep price to pay, but damn does it feel worth it while drinking it. While I'm sure it ages wonderfully if kept under the right conditions, I'm unsure if I'd be able to do so. It's just so amazing when fresh!
2,107 characters
3.75/5 rDev -6.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
4.24/5 rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.11/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
4.48/5 rDev +11.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
XS Old Crustacean from Rogue Ales
Beer rating:
79.5% out of
100 with
1,280 ratings
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4