Brewer (JLS Release #17)
Rogue Ales

 

 

 

Dark ruby pour. Looks like a coffee, small bubbles in the thin head. A bit of lacing, looks flat. Could pass as a stout initially by the look of it, save the head.
Smells of sweet malt, herbal hops, alcohbol, dark fruit and some anise.
Taste is thin. Not a whole lot going on here. Dark fruit, some sweet caramel thinned out, and a bit of sourness, but doesn't seem to be from hops. Not a bad beer, but not as special as I had hoped. Still, I'd have another.

Pours a very dark brown with a thin head that is quite tight. Some minimal lacing.Smell is interesting, being quite winey but with a solid backbone of sweet malt. Taste is chocolatey, smooth, and winey again, but not at all sour. Slightly fruity, maybe chocolate covered cherries? Quite tasty. Mouthfeel is beautiful- quite smooth and creamy. Not super complex, but well made and delicious.

on tap at Public House on NW Flanders in Portland

appearance: served in a large heavy chalice...dark mahogany body, clearish but dark, light tan head with very little lacing

smell: very hoppy and resinous, caramel malt backbone...bitter grapefruit, moderate booze. much better than the other lighter strong ale we tried prior to this

taste: nice and syrupy hop flavour, kind of thin and not really overly complex, caramel malt, a touch woody and earthy

mouthfeel: medium-thin, hoppy

drinkability: good

had on cask at the public house in san francisco, served in a pint glass with a nice big tan head. color is a dark hazy brown. smells strongly of hops, malt and a slight piney aroma. taste is strong of bitter hops and malt with a slight oak flavor. mouthfeel is full-bodied with not much carbonation. this is a very drinkable beer.

Had on-tap at The Front Door with a anchovies, red onion, bleu cheese pizza! Drank out of a grenade.

Appearance- Pours a dark brownish black with a big creamy off-white/tannish head that recedes to a thin cap that stays the entire brew. Lot’s of chunky, sticky lacing.
Smell- Very hoppy. Website said it was dry hopped with 4 different types of hops. Reminds me of the Skullspliter, really dark with lot’s of hops. There is subtle sweet roasted caramel malt lingering in the background.
Taste- The hop dominates this as well. Semi tart citrus is the opening taste followed by a nice piney/grassy oily bitterness. 9 hops used in total and they definitely make there presence known. Slightly sweet malt that tries’s to show but has a hard time behind all the hops. Finishes bitter with tinges of alcohol.
Mouthfeel- Nice creamy feel with a medium body. Medium carbonation.
Drinkability- Not to shabby. It’s pretty tasty but not being a huge hop head I probably wouldn’t drink more than a couple because of the bitterness. Tasty none-the-less!

Casked at Rogue's San Francisco pub. Ridiculously great head that lasts forever and leaves rings like an archaeological dig marking my sip amount.

Smells hoppy, earthy, and faintly alcoholic.

Taste is a great balance of malt and a very high alpha hop, with an oak taste that neither overpowers or hides in the background.

Full mouthfeel, thick and creamy. Lots of mellow carbonation.

Highly drinkable. It's got an alcohol kick that hides in th body but could probably sneak up on you after a couple of pints.

On tap at Barleys tonight for Bele Chere. Gotta love my JLS releases. Poured a very dark brown, essentially black with a thick off white, tanish head. Lots of lace. Smell was deeply dry hopped. It had a very fresh hop taste and a good bite to tthe aroma. The flavors followed along the same way. Super dry hopped and very very fresh. Great feel, very sticky in the mouth and the finish was super dry. Could drink this one forever, infact, had to nurse it a little a it just seemed to go on and on. This has to be one of more favorite JLS to date. A really fine strong ale, very very hoppy and had a great fresh taste to it. Cant wait till this one gets down to greenville, hopefully it will and real soon, this one is just too good to miss!

Color is a rich chocolaty brown with a thick and persistent head. The very hoppy aroma has smoky hints and a touch of coffee. Flavor is strongly hoppy and rather evergreen-ish, rather like drinking a pine tree; it is rich and satisfying, nice and bitter, with a trace of smokiness and a hint of burnt coffee. Strongly recommended to anybody who enjoys both hoppy beers and stouts/porters.

Had this on tap at Max's last night

The beer pours a dark brown color, looking almost porter like. The beer has adequate head retention and lacing as well. On the nose I get almost nothing. There are no off flavors, and there is a touch of licorise and burnt sugar, but that's about it. Max's lists this as an imperial IPA, but it sure doesn't smell like one to me. On the palate the flavor profile is decent enough and puts me in mind of beers like Skull Splitter and Integrity. There are some nice hops on the palate and, as is typical for Rogue, the beer is not too sweet with a fairly dry finish. The beer is medium body and is the abv. is fairly well disguised.

A good beer, but nothing special either...

Appearance: Dark, hazy brown body with a medium-sized, khaki-colored head.

Smell: The aroma smells mighty strongly of hops, with an assertive pine scent leading the pack. Far, far behing the hop scent is a roasty, chocolate malt character.

Taste: A slightly sweet, slightly bready flavor is almost immediately replaced by no real hop flavors, just a pure, raw bitterness that is quite unforgiving. Great, another resentfully hopped Rogue brew. Eventually, all the flavors become completly drowned out by the intense acrid bitterness that continues to build up in the back of the mouth as each sip becomes more toilsome to swallow than the last.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full body, with a slight chewiness. Carbonation remains low.

Drinkability: Enough bitterness to make finishing this pint a truly gruelling ordeal.

Served at the Dily Deli in Cincy.

A dark brown liquid deep and clean. Virtually no head which I think is the culprit of a bad pour. Darkest IPA I've seen.

This brew is totally about the hops. If there is any malt present it is very well hidden. Piney and resiny with no trace of malt balance too even things out a tad. The overly grassy, piney aspects of these hops don't really excite my palate.

Moutheel is thin and an off bitter. Definitely worth trying but lacking any balance.

Had this on tap at tyler's tap room in Durham.

A-Medium brown clear, nice tan head with good staying power and a fine lacing down the glass.

S-green and citrus hops, with a substatial malt backbone, toasted bread and carmel.

T-just it smells but very hoppy. Like a DIPA with a more carmel and toasty almost roasty flavor. Very very good. A littl bozzy in the finish

M-0op oils coat mouth with nice medium body. perfect carbonation for the flavor profile.

D-Seems a little boozy to garner any higher in this category.
D-

On draft at KClinger’s. A dark brown beer, sexy and inviting. There's a huge, big hoppy nose ... but it doesn’t jive with the visual look of a brown ale. Ultimately this is a big, hoppy beer with a double IPA-like punch. Viscuous, resiny and oily. Outstanding strong beer. (#2651, 1/14/07)

Some kind of strange IPA/stout hybrid - pours a dark reddish brown that's nearly opaque. The nose is all hops, but the chocolatey malts come through surprisingly well in the taste, competing with the intensely bitter hops. A refreshingly unique and drinkable medium-bodied, full-flavored beer that I hope they start bottling.

This is a beer with a touching story behind it. Made to commemorate John Maier's late labrador retriever: Brewer. It is the newest beer on tap at the Sanctuary in Iowa City. Very good, but it is quite parching and too heavy to drink too much of it.

The beer pours to a dark brown color with a clear amber hue. A thin off-white collar of head forms at the top, leaving a small lacing as it recedes. Retention is alright.

The smell is nice and hoppy. Has some resinous piney hops aroma, probably chinook. Only a little bit citric. Also has a huge malty aroma underneath, particularly a gently roasty caramel malts.

The taste is great. Sweet caramel malt up front followed by a huge piney bitterness. A nice citric flavor as well. A very gently smokiness and spice in the finish, along with a lingering piney and grassy bitterness. Monumental bitter hops and malt flavors. When I read the description on the menu they name dropped at least four different styles: IPA, Brown Ale, Doppelbock, Scotch Ale. I can see where they were coming from on each of those, but it can't quite be pinned down to any one of those individually.

Very thick body. Quite balanced for such an epic beer. Doesn't have the characteristic Rogue pacman lingering butter flavor, which is a plus. Still fairly difficult to drink -- not because it isn't a great beer (because it is), but because it is just very parching and huge. I liked it alot, and I'll probably drink it again if it is still on tap next time I hit up the Sanctuary.

Appearance: Arrives at the bar with a coffee brown color and a small tan head that fails to lace the glass

Smell: Dark fruit aromas along with grapefruity hops

Taste: Dark chocolate and fruit flavors up front that are joined, after the swallow by a citrusy bitterness; the finish is nicely balanced

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation

Drinkability: Rich and complex; tough to categorize but a whale of a beer

Glad to get the chance to try this I have been waiting for the chance,poured a deep dark brown with a tight but thinner off white head atop.True to Rogue fashion the hop is dominant and oh so lovely exremely piney and of freshly cut grass just beautiful hop presense the brown ale aspect comes thru with a very noticable brown sugar note it melds well with the big hoppy profile.This beer isnt all hops it has a nice molasses/brown sugar sweet malt base but the dryer piney hop prevailes in its resiny glory making you want to drink more.Easily the hoppiest brown to come my way and its beautiful because its not just about being a hop bomb it has character,damn I loved it and will get more an awesome and one of a kind American brown.