Côtes du Rogue
Rogue Ales

 

 

 

i saw this little bottle in the gift shop at the newport public house when we were waiting for a table and it looked totally different than the rest of their offerings, gold foil and all, never saw anything like this from these guys and i was fully stoked when i saw it was on tap. its a barrel aged wild ale with bugs captured right there locally, which yield a very peculiar bit of terroir in this brew, unexpected, even weird, but very enjoyable as a taste of place. the beer is lightly hazy very pale straw colored without much head from the tap, at least by the time it gets to our table. it smells slightly briny, white winey, and with subtle lemon and lactic tang. there is some funk here but its not a familiar brett thing, and the beer seems very mature, well aged. there is maybe some slight oxidation to this when i first taste it, but also lots of cool nuance, green grape and lemongrass esters, white pepper and wet oak, and a relatively interesting fermentation profile, bacterial sure, but its not that sour or acidic, funky, but not in the traditional bretty sense, its a different kind of wild, maybe a trace of white vinegar to it, maybe a little soapiness, but i like it, and the beer is easy drinking despite its complexity and relative lack of carbonation. it could use a little refinement, but its awesome to see rogue foray into this style, im sure if they continue down this track the beers will get more and more dialed in, but this was a fun one to try on our visit and definitely one of the more memorable. id be really curious to see how this one ages with the bugs it has in it, i should have grabbed a bottle!

This might be the first proper "American wild ale" I've added to the beer archives here at BA, and I'm proud for it. I take chances on Rogue here and there, and I actually feel generally vindicated when I do so... sure, not all of their stuff is very good, and some of it is weird for weird's sake, but when they succeed at some of their stranger ideas, I tend to be impressed. CdR is their first release in a series of foeder-aged blended sour beer featuring mixed cultures harvested from the air near their brewery and farm.

CdR pours a luxurious-looking mostly-clear light amber with orange/goldenrod highlights, topped off with a fantastically-expressive, creamy head featuring excellent legs and pretty good lace. If I look closely, I can see a ton of carbonation rising from the bottom of my glass. Active pour with excellent retention. I have high hopes for this one.

As soon as I brought this to my nose, I was struck with a feeling of elation... this has the same toasted oak/apple/lemon/white wine feel I appreciate in most soured foeder beers. It is elegant and refined, with the warming medium-toast oak and light tannic structure you'd find in something like an Allagash sour. Baked cinnamon apple, light nutmeg, crackery malt, and stone fruit round it all out. Very nice stuff!

On the tongue, this is a treat with a very well-composed blend of lemony acidity and spicy, earthy grains meeting with a suggestion of orchard fruit and a lightly cider-like tingle toward the mid-palate. The finish is beautifully rendered with some more spice and sourness. It never quite reaches a "puckering" level of acidity, which is another thing I find that it has in common with unfruited Allagash sours. A touch of acetic acid, however, does prevent it from being a totally great beer, though, I will say, and that is not an element I taste in most comparable Allagash beers (FV13 is the first comparison that comes to mind, by the way). I think the yeast here is probably a little less expressive and well-defined compared to those beers, too, but it's also comparatively young as a fully-realized culture, so perhaps with time this series will truly come into its own. I still think it's awesome for what it is. I encourage all sour/wild ale lovers to give this one a shot.