Rogue - Santa's Private Reserve Ale

Tonight I'm drinking another winter seasonal from a mighty brewery out on the West coast.  Rogue has been brewing beer and distilling liquor since 1988.  I reeeeeeeeally want to get myself a bottle of their whiskey.  One of our local beer stores just started carrying it.  When I get a bottle, you will know about it.

This Rogue brew is one of many within their extensive line-up.  I think you'd be hard pressed to walk into a beer store and only find one variety of Rogue beer.  Santa's Private Reserve is also one of many Rogue beers to have won an award.  Multiple awards, actually.  It has won the 2011 and 2009 Gold medal at the World Beer Championships as well as a 2010 Silver medal at the same competition.  Three years in a row in the top three is pretty dang impressive.  It certainly lends credence to Rogue's top-notch reputation.

Like that little seasonal flare I threw in there tonight?!

Santa's Private Reserve Ale is an American Red Ale style.  Not necessarily your typical winter spiced ale like we saw yesterday with Duns' review of Anchor's Christmas Ale.  I'm a fan of winter seasonal's simply for the fact that they can come in so many different styles.  Whether it be a stout, barley wine, double IPA, winter spice ale, it doesn't matter! As long as you feel cozy on the couch while drinking it, that's all that really matters.

The color is a hazy burnt amber.  A frothy tan foam sticks to the rim of my glass as it recedes, giving way to a full-on rush of Northwestern hops.  A very mild hint of caramel pokes through but is quickly subverted by Chinook, "Rogue Farm Revolution" and Freedom hops.  I have no idea what those Rogue hops are like, but my guess is that lupulin-packed monsters, just like Rogue likes 'em.  The flavors here are noticeably clean.  That Pacman yeast Rogue uses allows the hops and malt to take center stage, leaving virtually no residual yeast flavor.  A piney hop bitterness is at the forefront, supported by a thin, roasty caramel malt.  Mild carbonation and a muted alcohol bite finish Santa's special brew off nice and dry.

Overall - This was a very enjoyable brew.  Definitely not your standard winter seasonal.  No spice, gingerbread, nutmeg or otherwise.  Santa's Private Reserve Ale is simply a well brewed American Red Ale.  One that Santa should be proud of.  Full of piney hops and malty malts.  My only gripe is that I'd like a bit more body to support the bold hop bitterness.  But that won't keep me from picking up another bomber of this tastiness.

Rogue Double Chocolate Stout

Rogue Double Chocolate Stout.  Sounds delicious, eh?  This beer is brewed with real dutch bittersweet chocolate, along with some chocolate malts grown and fired at Rogue's own barley farm.  Hopped with Cascade and Rogue Micro Hops from Rogue's own hop bines.  Brew stats come in at 50 IBUs, 135 lovibond (super dark), and 8%ABV.


The beer pours a light-sucking black-brown color with a half inch of dark tan head.  The aroma starts with rich bitter chocolate, closely followed by roasted malts and iced coffee.  Also some smokiness in there.  The first drink is, holy F'ing chocolate!  Extreme dark, bitter chocolate.  Not chocolate roasted malts.....ACTUAL chocolate.  After that chocolate blast, some flavors start to come through that remind me this is actually a beer.  Burnt, roasted malts and a brief hop bitterness make themselves known, along with some crushed coffee beans.  The finish brings back a reminder of the chocolate with a thick grittiness, like the way your mouth feels after a big bite of chocolate syrup on ice cream.

Overall Rating:  (4.0 out of 6.0)  This glass of beer felt like a 25lb dumbbell in my hand.  It also drank heavy, with bittersweet chocolate obviously being the main player in the show.  While I was a little off-put at first by the extremity of the chocolate, this beer grew on me over time.  After acclimating to the chocolate, the rest of the flavors became more pronounced and it turned into a nicely balanced, roasty toasty chocolate stout.  If you're looking for a change of pace, and enjoy chocolate (and stouts), this is certainly worth a try!

Rogue Captain Sig's Northwestern Ale

Tonight I picked up a Rogue Ale - oddly enough, I don't think Steve or I have reviewed a Rogue brew yet.  I've tried many of Rogue's beers, and a strong majority of them have been fantastic, so I'm not sure what's taken us so long to get to this brewery!  After doing some research, I found that the Rogue franchise is quite expansive.  They have a brewery, a pub, a distillery, a restaurant in Portland Airport, a hop farm, a barley farm, and the list goes on.  They are like the McDonalds of the craft brewing world!  (that's a tough metaphor to draw when you've got breweries like Anhueser Busch out there....but... humor me).  Rogue also sports some cool label designs themed around skeletons. 

This brew is classified as an India Red Ale.  Here is a link to the beer-geek information.  The bottle shows a portrait of Captain Sig, a fishing boat, and a crab, all themed around that show on the Discovery Channel about crab fishing, Deadliest Catch.  On the bottle, it states "Dedicated to the Hansen Brothers - Sig, Edgar, and Norman - the Rogues of the Bering Sea.  Portions of the proceeds of Northwestern Ale will support the Fishermen's Fund."  I like that show - those guys are both insane and badass-tough.

I changed it up today and used my pilsner glass - big mistake.  The foam volcanoed out of the glass, and has created a plateau above the rim of the glass that is making it difficult to drink (see picture below).  After waiting for about 30 minutes, the foam finally subsided enough to get my nose in there for a smell - lots of sweet toasted malts in there, bread and biscuits, as well as some subtle plums...smells fantastic!  The color is a deep mahogany red, and totally clear.

The first sip brings those malts home - an awesome combination of chocolate, caramel malts that bring bready notes and some toffee sweetness.  There is also a great balancing bitterness, fresh pine, with a nice dry finish.  The texture is creamy smooth, and the carbonation is perfect.  There's a slight warmth at the end, but just barely noticeable, from the 6%ABV. 

Overall Rating:  (5.2 out of 6.0)  This was an enjoyable, extremely drinkable beer from Rogue.  It's essentially an amber ale that is generously hopped with the fresh American stuff (my favorite) - perfectly balanced and very unique.  I highly recommend this one.


Pilsner glass + Red Ale = .......this