3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Draft at the brewpub. Pours a redish brown color with creamy head. Nice lacing. Mild bitterness, but smoother then most reds. Lots of earthy tones. Not sophisticated enough to taste all the herbs listed in the description, but did enjoy it. Need to try again in a controlled environment. Drank this one from plastic glass while feasting on crawfish and listening to the bands at Crawfish boil 2008.
4.2 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20
Draft at Nessun Dorma in Milwaukee. The beer pours to a deep hazy red-brown body with a creamy foam tan head. The aroma is a nutty malt with herbal hops and a nice specialty malt base. The flavor builds upon the nutty specialty malt base with the herbal hops and some really hard to describe things. It was blended really nicely, however. The palate was medium bodied with a rich malty texture. This beer was very good.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
UPDATED: AUG 11, 2008 Draft, current guest tap at Flossmoor Station. I just tried it as a beer not an aphrodisiac, and it’s very good. Deep brown body with a "stiff" white head (oh, no, here I go anyway), some unfiltered haze. Nose is intriguing, complex and spicy. As I sipped, the head fell in to gain a creamy oatmeal stout texture. Taste is a delightfully different blend of spices on a base of, I think, German and American hops, and English brown ale malts with a touch, I think, of wheat. Notes of sage, coriander and cumin (huh-huh!). Wouldn’t know what epimedium tastes like, after all. Empties with nice lace through the glass. I may be rating it too highly for its own good, but hey it’s different, it’s good and it’s fresh. As for its claimed herbal properties, my favorite remains stroken palm.
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
On tap at Dark Horse. Hazy red-brown body, medium buff head. Cerealy, sweet nose with sweet breads, caramel, and grassy hops. Sweet body, too, cut by grassy cereals and herbal hops. Crisp, bitter finish. Silky body. A solid amber ale.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
Draft @ Brewpub. Pretty excited to test the strength of the Rod. Dark cherry pour, bubbly thin, frothy head. Has the bitterness of a pale ale, but also a very herbal, earthy quality due to the additives. Relatively smooth and drinkable, the herbs are not as prominent as you would think. Unfortunately, I did not feel the power of the Rod but it was still tasty nonetheless.
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