Santa's Private Reserve (2019)
Rogue Ales

Boy I used to be a huge fan of this brewery. This beer used to be a hopped up ( more IBUs) version of the St Rogue Red. Now it appears it has the same base, but less boil hops and IBUs plus the added twist of candy cap mushrooms that lend a maple character.
It looks like Rogue Red, clear, deep russet, rusty amber but the cream colored head is foamy not thick and rocky as I remember and has zero legs - not lace drape or smear even when encourage by swirls or pouring more from the 22. Santa lounging on the giant 'shrooms on the bottle is a great image.
Maple aromas erupt from the glass along with vanilla icing and some whisky notes. Sprucey hop hints are noted but squashed by the dominant sweetness and odd boozy scotch nose.
Faint maple flavors play in and out around the hop and caramel malt flavor profile that IS St Rogue Red just slightly less so than I remember. The smell of maple and the up front sweetness befuddle and smother the rich toffee flavors on the malt, the distinct roasted character that melds so well with the woodsy, conifer and leather notes from the hops.
I realize brewers get bored and need to change recipes and hop varieties etc etc, but Rogue Red was a winning beer in my book. And the mushroom addition is a cool idea but... take them out and I'd enjoy the beer much more. Again.
Body is a solid medium and the finish gets me back to where I want to be with this beer. Enjoying the complex dance of well balanced hops and specialty malts in an aftertaste that lingers, the almost cloying sweet mostly gone save some cherry and apple hints, leaving only the bones of St. Rogue Red to savor.

 

12/18/19...pours medium dark brown with off white foam that settles mostly out. Fruity cherry nose. Vanillas too. Swirling fruity taste, blends fruit with colas, sugars, oranges, vanilla and all kinds of cookie flavors. Subtle flavorful bitter backs it up. Real good.

 

 

From the bottle, it pours a hazy brown color with a large light tan head that lasts. In the nose, it is spicy and malty. In the mouth, it is the same, with an ending of dark fruits.

 

 

 

Brewed with candy mushrooms this year; they gave it a nutty taste. But there was a lot of caramel note in this one as well (a bit too much for my liking). Good carbonation and a strong amber hue made it a pretty holiday beer in the glass.

 

 

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours copper color with a tiny white head. The head fades very fast leaving one with a hint of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma of the brew is strong of a sweet caramel and maple syrup smell mixed with some lightly toasted malt aromas. Along with these smells comes a little bit of a herbal and earthy smell giving it a sweeter and inviting aroma overall.
Taste – The taste begins with a sweeter caramel and maple taste that has a decent bready and malty backbone. As the taste advance the little bit of earthiness that was detect in the nose comes to the tongue. Some harvest fruit and dark fruit tastes come to the tongue at the end leaving one with a sweet and rich taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is on the slightly thicker side with a carbonation level that is average. For the sweeter tastes of the brew the feel is very nice and makes for a nice sweet slow sipper.
Overall – While you don’t get much of the mushroom flavors (maybe besides a little bit of earthy taste), this is a nice robust brew overall and a nice sipper to try.

 

This year's release was brewed with candy cap mushrooms. Rogue's website states the mushrooms add maple flavor and their right! Many flavors here that I'm unable to describe that I'm assuming are coming from the mushrooms.