159. Rogue Beard Beer

Did you think I was going to only have one beer while visiting the dispensary?  Of course not.  I went over to the little bar area and struck up some chit chat with some other folks nearby.  One of my neighbors had a son in Oregon who sent him Beard Beer.  I can see how some people would make faces based on the description.  He offered a sample for me, I'm the daring type so I agreed to try it, and proceeded to get a nice 4-6 oz pour of the goods.  

The beer was poured into the same cup I used to drink the Black IPA, albeit I did my best to rinse and get the lingering stuff out.  The beer was a light amber color, with about a finger of off-white head.  I let it settle and took some whiffs to see what I could come up with.  I could pick up banana, malts, citrus.  My first impression screamed hefeweizen.  

I'd finally "man up" and take a drink of the thing and found the tastes to be consistent with the aromas.  That said, there was definitely some "funk" in the beer.  Smelled like a hefeweizen, tasted like a saison.  Maybe the funk came from the beard, but it didn't gross me out or anything.  I ended up drinking the whole thing.  The brew was medium bodied, with average carbonation.  For what it was, it's definitely more of a gimmick thing than anything.  The beer was decent, but didn't wow me, but I can say to others that I drank the thing.  I guess it is worth trying once, just don't expect to be wowed by the beer.

Grade: C

Price Paid: Free! (4-6 oz sample pour)

95. Rogue Santa's Private Reserve Ale

When you hold beers like me, you can experience a little bit of Christmas all days of the year.  In this case, I decided to enjoy a beer before heading to a Carolina Hurricanes game and opted to go with the holiday ale by Rogue.  

The beer poured an amber color into a snifter glass.  A finger and a half of off white head that had a stickiness to it.  Sheets of lacing all over the perimeter of the glass, making for one attractive looking beer.  I picked up aromas of malt, caramel, dark fruit, maybe a little bit of spice.  Also had a touch of citrus.  I tend to like amber ales, but I don't remember any amber ales with this type of profile..I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into!

Malty sweetness comes first, following by a hop bite that tends to linger a little too long for my tastes.  The malt, caramel is evident.  The dark fruit I smelled didn't pick up in the taste.  The citrus that was hard to detect was much more evident..not a sweet citrus either, definitely grapefruit.  I think I could pick off some piney hops as well.  The beer was medium bodied, with moderate carbonation.  Overall, I feel like I've had better amber ales that are a better representation of the type.  I've also had better Christmas ales, since this lacked the spice.  To me, this is a pretty unremarkable beer.  Agree or disagree?  I'd love to hear your opinion.

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $2.29 (12 oz bottle)

41. Chatoe Rogue First Growth Pumpkin Patch Ale

Mm..pumpkin beer.  It's still quite tasty even when it's not November.  Decided to crack this baby open since I had planned to drink since Thanksgiving and never got around to it.  Nevertheless, I knew I had the whole 750 mL bottle to myself and that it would be my responsibility to make sure that none of it went to waste.  This particular beer comes courtesty of Rogue (http://www.rogue.com), a very popular brewery out of Oregon.  I can say with certainty that this is the first that I've had from their brewery.  I've noticed a lot of the other offerings they have had, just never got around to picking them up.

The beer poured a hazelnut color, which was a little unexpected.  Considering the flashy orange bottle, I thought I'd see something more caramel or burnt orange colored.  Nope!  Just looking at it, I would have assumed a nut brown ale.  But of course, appearance isn't everything.  On the first pour, I didn't get much head or retention.  On the second pour, I had plenty of head, plenty of retention, incredible looking lacing.  Aroma?  I could pick up the pumpkin right away, along with some of the typical spices that go with pumpkin: nutmeg, clove, cinnamon.  

Upon tasting, I didn't taste the heavy spice that I thought would be evident from the aroma.  It came off as a pretty light ale.  Not a ton of carbonation, so it went down smooth.  Bitter aftertaste that was very much on the light side.  Had a fruity feel to it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  Had a light mouthfeel to it..not heavily bodied.  Very solid pumpkin beer front and back.  Would definitely have again, but I'd prefer to share instead of having it all to myself.

Grade: B

Price Paid: $6.99 (750 mL bomber)