Rogue FestiveAle

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: Saison
Newport, Oregon USA

Serve in Tulip

I don’t like this beer. Spruce makes this beer taste more like a spiced winter ale than a saison. Nonetheless, regardless of style, not a good offering from a great brewery.

I havent rated a beer in eons, that’s centuries to you and me...why did i choose to start up again with this ale of unfestive qualities, unless of course your celebrating ghetto-pride or something..then I guess it would be festive, at least until someone got shot or stabbed or whathave you. Kind of hazy orange I suppose, frothy white head..not a bad looking beer by any means. Smells of wet cedar, cinnamon, and maybe some cardomon but bends towards some stinky malt liqour staleness in the finish. Flavors clash horribly, in ways that remind me why I like wine better than beer these days. Its just freakin nasty...the grains of paradise are overused to annihilation...it seriously tastes like the 1 inch of liquid left at the end of a 40 the morning after..with a cigarette butt floating in it and a used condom draped over the top of the bottle.

Pours a hazy, orange-brown. Tons of yeast in the bottom of the bottle! Big bubbled head that does not stick around for too long. Sour apple and other lightly sweet citrus. Its actually heavy smelling. Bitter citrus peal finish. Slightly sour with hints of sweetness with light barnyard flavors of wet hay and blanket. Earthy-spicy hops throughout (though light). Full creamy-oily body, with champagne carbonation (nice). This is OK. Very much in the saizon style as opposed to holiday.

Bomber: Funky rotting apple aroma; sourish and astringent, with some orange peel and flowery hops; fairly bitter and spiced with a cacophony of non-complementary herbs; dusty and yeasty; Rogue missed the mark on this one.

Bottle: I shared a 22 oz. bottle with my wife and we were both pleasantly surprised because we had seen the rating before we opened it. It gets major points for the murky gold brown look, like I imagine the kind of beer they drink in Narnia or something. It is accompanied by a white head that slowly diminishes throughout the drinking time. I thought thr aromas were also interesting: citrus fruit leather, light spice notes, bread yeast and mild hops. The tastes pretty much matched the aromas: hops and citrus. The body is thin but the feel in the mouth is creamy. The aftertaste is quick. It sounds like ClarkVV thought the hops were non existent, but even though I am more than 2,000 beers shy of his experience, I did notice a mild hop presence. I liked it and would get more if I had the opportunity.

2005 bomber drunk on 12/17/2005. Pours a perfect brass color, small, foamy white head is retained at cover, while of course there is plenty of sediment in the bottle creating a slight haziness. Aroma smells of old cheese and old apple cider/apple pulp. Almost creates a sulphur-like note, but this is just the initial vapor that rises from the bottle upon opening. It passes somewhat as it breathes. Light flower petals and some light pale sugars are about the extent of what I can pull from the very weak aroma. Flavor is light caramel at first and then plastic, old cardboard, madeira. Expansive overcarbonation, but the unfiltered texture otherwise, is supple. Not even five minutes and the aroma is gone. In its place light isopropyl. Must be tasting the myrtle because there’s a fuzzy tea-leaf like flavor that isn’t orange, ginger or grains of paradise. Speaking of ginger, that’s very subtle and tastefully done. Grains of paradise pepper the palate, adding that dry, nutty, flavor and peppercorn chewiness. Malt grows strong, but because it’s just pale malt, it does not cloy or dominate. I think my biggest question is, WHERE ARE THE HOPS!?!?!? I’m not expecting a hop monster of a saison, but come on, some balancing/palate clearing saaziness would be much appreciated. Not so here. Just light herbal sweetness on the very end. Alcohol begins to emerge, in the flavor, after 10 minutes or so (on the finish). As well, the head is gone, which is odd for Rogue. Yeast emerges, somewhat, up front, adding light apple, powdered sugar and bubble gum (very faint) notes. Gently swirling even, I can not get the vigorous carbonation to die down. And, not surprisingly, the beer is replete with tons of yeast activity. Lots of carbonation, alcohol and esters, and quite attenuated. I think, while the end product was not successful, it’s a successful experiment in that they could easily make some changes to make it great. Probably a very slightly cooler fermentation, maybe a little longer in secondary. Less grains of paradise, maybe about 25 to 33 percent of the grain bill should be pils malt and it must have more hops. Not sure how they can work on the carbonation, but that has to be controlled as well (20 minutes later, it is still annoyingly expansive and omnipresent). Grains of paradise and a bready, heavy yeast builds too much on the palate and I’m not able to finish the bomber.

Bold and flavorful. Hoilday spices yet doesnt totally feel like a holiday beer. Beautiful bouqet of aroma and taste. With so many malts and hops used in this beer, its no wonder its so distinct.

Weird. Fluffy. Herbal. Lavender. Lilac. Mint. Sweet. Soft. Pepper. Ginger. Buttery. Complex. Rough. Amber.