Why Do So Many People Hate Rogue Ales?

All my hate is for their gimmicky crap... Voodoo Doughnut/Sriracha, etc. Their standard lineup is fine.

 

1. They make what people consider to be gimmicky beers. Like the Voodoo Doughnut beers, Sirracha Stout, and Beard Beer (beer made with yeast from the brewers beard).

2. They are widely available all over the country, so they are not rare or anything. This makes them easier to hate or ignore.

3. There was an article or lawsuit once about how they don't treat their employees very well. So add that to the list.

Personally I think they are fine. Dead Guy Ale was one of my go to beers for a while when I was getting into craft. They do have gimmick beers, but they still have good beers as well. The Double Chocolate Stout is great, and the XS Old Crustacean is good too. Are they the best out there? No, but I think they get too much hate.

 

The answers you'll get here:

- quality control
- quality
- price
- hubris
- groupthink
- business practices
- bottle dates
- offbeat gimmicks

Unfortunately, there's certainly an element of them being the picked on kid at school that everybody knows that they can safely bully. An easy punchline for jokes on a forum.

In a perfect world, folks should be able to be a fan of their beer without the forum beer police coming in to ridicule.

 

Crap Beer (Mostly) that is very expensive.

 

You know after reading that, if you start seeing a lot of smoke there is fire somewhere. Most breweries employees love working for them and are for the most part really happy. My daughter spent some time down in Shiner and she was heartbroken when she had to leave. She had never worked with a group of employees that loved their job so much and were so well treated. She loved every trip she made down there. I tend to like some of the Rogue beers, but if this pans out to be how they treat their employees, then not going to be sending any money that way

 

I like a number of Rogue beers.

That said, I don't buy a great deal of Rogue as their beers tend to be priced a bit higher than comparative or even slightly better beers.

Also, I am somewhat off-put by the stories of the poor way they treat their workforce. I find it particularly problematic since Rogue's ownership portrays itself as edgy, progressive while practicing the opposite in its labor relations.

Finally, it's annoying when they get a bit too gimmicky - come on, beard beer... really?

 

Because it's fashionable

 

Have you guys given their Crustaceans a shot, both old and new? We have both on tap as a sort of "barleywine battle" that even Rogue retweeted (kinda cool). The New is actually really interesting with the citrusy hops they added.
I'm not leaning one way or the other as far as ALL Rogue beers - some are good, some are bad, some are memorable, most are not; I don't like having them on tap all the time either just because of the stigma they've created themselves. Gimmicks are fun, but not every year.

 

Like a lot of other people have mentioned, I haven't tried anything they make that has me coming back for more.

 

Rogue has a few good beers (Chocolate Stout, Oatmeal Stout, Hazelnut Brown - and I liked their Chipotle Ale), and I guess most people don't like the rest (quality vs. cost)....

 

Rogue is a virtual relic at this point. I don't hate them, but the beers are OK and a "bit" expensive. I sold the beers back in the early 90s and asked their national sales manager if there was any type of programming available to periodically move more cases and to get more people to try the beer. He said no and that the price at retail is intentionally high to drive a sense of exceptional quality and "specialness" into the consuming public. I remember this group as particularly "entitled" and very arrogant. I really stopped caring long ago.

 

I don't feel like they have kept up in quality over the years, but I honestly don't understand everyone bitching about the price. Nearly every bomber I purchase lately has been priced higher than Rogue.

 

The fact that they don't date their bottles saying "It just changes, but never goes bad" is enough for me to be beyond frustrated with them. Their six packs are super expensive for a gamble of a mediocre beer or possibly a 3 year old abomination.

 

Except that 5 years ago they had 3-4 beers on the top 100 list.

 

A prime example of an over priced shelf turd. I've had a few of their offerings, and haven't been impressed yet. Glad I actually sampled the Double Chocolate while deciding whether or not to plunk down $13 for the bomber. I would have been sorely disappointed.

 

They have a few good beers like Hazelnut Brown and Chocolate Stout but their weird beers are pretty much all misses.

 

They've always been proud to be the "price leader" within the industry, charging more for their brews than comparable beers. The founder cam over from Nike, and brought his anti-worker ethos with him. They used to make some great beers, and still make some good ones, but from a final product perspective, they have not kept up with the industry.

 

Because I don't like beard in my beer, unless its my own...

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/132/96149/

 

They're the Miley Cyrus of the beer world. People would appreciate their talent a lot more if they weren't swinging around naked on a wrecking ball and making beers from beard yeast.

 

Seems to me like they went off the deep end with their gimmicks and it just doesn't do it for me. If I was in the mood to experiment with a beer that I may end up hating, I shouldn't be forced to pay over 10 dollars a bomber. Too risky to purchase a chiffon donut beer for $13 dollars...I'll just go buy a chiffon donut for $2 and drink a reliable beer to wash it down