Rogue Double Dead Guy Ale

Bottle, #460. Hazy copper pour with small head and minimal lacing. Hopy and malty aroma and flavor, well balanced. Not as intense as expected, but a great brew none the less.

Fine carbonation, fine head. Rather malty and sweet aroma. Some hint of forest and wild mushrooms. A little balsamico, perhaps. Nothng strikes out, so let’s hope there is more when I sip. Sweet malt, but with a fresh resin backbone. Sweetness and oaky dryness play with each other, challenging rather than going for low key harmony. The oakiness is similar to tannin-rich red wines. At the same time you have old fashioned boiled sweets. The finish is the same, the sweet cereals and malt is almost like a bowl of breakfast whole grain flakes, but then the dry wood demands attention and sort of distort the idyllic sweetness. Free range coastal waters, the label says, but it is not very salty. Oaky was not the ultimate word for the feeling on the tongue. Their web site says tea, and the pieces click into place. It is the beer equivalent of an English breakfast, including both the strong black tea and the cornflakes. No black pudding, though, this is the more Southern variety. A lovely beer. I’d buy it regularly if it was available. As you see, it goes well with the furniture, too. Every home should have one!

On tap at Brass Tap (Wesley Chapel, FL). Pours a dark amber color with a medium tan head. Rich aroma has lots of sweetness mixed in with the hops. Flavor has a nice balance between the sweet, rich toffee/caramel dried fruit profile and the hop bitterness. The alcohol is fairly pronounced. Excellent prolonged aftertaste.

Butter’s 4th cellar reduction. Hazy red amber with a thick tan head and good lace. Sweet caramel aroma with licorice. Sweet taste with lingering metal notes, hides alcohol well.

Bottle at the Fourth Butters’ Cellar Clearance Event. Very sweet aroma. Malty bill with hop profile. Some alcohol burning on the finish. Awesome bottle, but expensive. I think this is going to get much better with age.

750mL bottle at Butters’ 4th Cellar Reduction. Pours a lacing pale head with a deep amber body. Hop and caramel nose. Taste is caramel, biscuit, and great hops. Good sticky sweet, bitter finish.

I had this at the Sunset Grille in Boston. Nice dark color to this one. Has a strong malt flavor with hints of caramel. Has kind of a strong bite in the end, but what else can you expect from something that’s close to 10% abv?

An excellent strong ale from Rogue. Incredible hop flavor and balance. Nice blend of caramel and malts.