Rogue FestiveAle

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: Saison
Newport, Oregon USA

Rogue is one of those breweries that always gets mild interest and a finger pointed at it on the liquor store shelf, but is bypassed for something else more alluring, seasonal or rare. I suppose that’s because I never hear anything remarkable about it. Also because Rogue Ales has an unhealthy addiction to eponyms and changing identities that would humble Mossad or the CIA. It’s lucky then that they came out with a few seasonal offerings, such as the FestiveAle. That beer’s temporal existence caught my attention, and as I looked the bottle over I could feel the sands of time slipping through my fingers. It was a seasonal, after all, and only had so long before it would eventually fade from the shelf. I’d be forced to wait another agonizing 12 months! My eyes darted back and forth. I bit my lip. Pressure was mounting. Sweat began to form on my brow. I felt like I could hear every creaky cart in the whole store. A minute passed, and a clock on the wall made a large, booming “TOCK!”. Hourglasses danced in the air, and for a moment I thought the Grim Reaper looked over my shoulder and gave the ale a thumbs up. SOLD! I couldn’t afford to waste another second. For all I knew I just purchased a bottle of drain run-off. But it didn’t matter. It was SEASONAL. In the end the choice wasn’t so bad. As far as Rogue’s winter offerings go, it was vastly more interesting than Santa’s Private Secret Forbidden (and boring) Reserve. Like many other Saisons the head was gargantuan, billowing up with pride and yielding only with time and patience. As it receded back to the pool of beer from which it came it left its mark on the sides of the glass, thick and heavy, as if with an elegiac regret for its short life span. Pity. The body was the color of orange jam, alluding to some sweeter dimensions to come. The smell had a bit of sour asperity to it, complemented with a piercing yeast smell, honey, peaches, orange and even a bit of lemon. The flavor is a bit flat, beginning with a couple of bland, tasteless paces, then takes on some yeasty bubbliness, and finally slides into a prolonged bout of bread flavors and what I was surprised to find was Italian seasonings. The aftertaste is like chomping into a loaf of heavily seasoned Italian bread. And weirdest of all, it fit in nicely. After the sumptuous and savory grains go away there’s nothing left. It opens with a blank palate, and ends in the same vacuum. The cold greeting and departure leave this beer a little chilly, and one I’d not soon welcome into an inner sanctum of beer-directed compassion. Without the energy that makes for truly celebratory beer I’d recommend not bringing out a bottle for this when you think a party is at hand. This is much more appropriate for drinking in loneliness on a cold dock, or maybe for sipping in an abandoned warehouse. Good enough to drink, but too sterile to care for.

Pours a cloudy peach color with a moderate, bubbly white head. Aroma is sort of sour, with hints of apple and white grape fruitiness. The flavor is drier than expected and a tad tangy, with a yeasty backdrop. Mouthfeel is foamy and slightly sticky. The flavor turns drier toward the finish, and leaves a strange sort of clean/tart aftertaste behind. There’s not a lot to this beer, but it’s not bad.

Light color with some yeast and a big, bubbly head. Bready aroma. Taste is decent, but lacking that quality farmhouse taste that is present in most Saisons. I knocked off another point because Rogue should know better.

Pours a light orange cast with a frothy head/ Aroma is sweet and lightly spicy. Flavor is a littly yeasty with bubblegum like phenols, with a spritzy finish.

Bottle. Has a bockish aroma but is enhanced with an airy Belgian quality. Sweetness infiltrates the nose. Cloudy reddish orange body with streaming carbonation and a lasting quarter inch creamy, off-white head. Not much lace. FestiveAle doesn’t just enter your mouth, it invades it with its lively carbonation..initially. Dry and abrupt. Rogue hits some of the style characteristics nuts on and misses on others. True to the style, this brew has the foamy head, the citrusy character the high carbonation, the medium body and the medium ABV. However, the body lacks clarity. I’m willing to overlook this "mistake" as I prefer my ales cloudy as they should be. Loses some punch as it warms. I’m no Saison expert but a 9.7 percentile seems awfully low for this brew. The "bitter orange peel" is clearly evident, but not in a bad way. This brew is a little too dry to be balanced, and is therefore less interesting than it could be. However, after pouring in the dregs from the bottom of the bottle, the body gets a little more substance and the flavor rounds out even more. Truly not a bad beer.

Thick, bubbly head. Has a bright pumpkin color. Aroma of cotton candy, citrus, and light wheatiness. Flavor also contains a lot of cotton candy followed with a bit of bitterness at the end. A little sweet for my taste. Fizzy mouthfeel.

Bottle. Sweet and spicy nose with a grand note of warm Eggo waffles and maple syrup. Pine, flowers, herbs are all light, ginger and orange rind slightly higher in the mix. Orange-colored body, fizzing beige head, enormously volatile pour. Very spicy taste, semi-dry finish. Very yeasty with some dumpy slightly sour wheat and caramel notes common in Dunkelweizen, very light hops, and all notes expressed in the aroma. Muddled light bitterness. Spices are a little out of control. Touch of mineral water on the exit. Way out of balance, but not quite bad enough to be dumped.

I love Saisons, and not many American brewers make an attempt at capturing these flavorful brews. I have to admire Rogue’s attempt and it’s not all that bad. Cloudy appearance with a decently balanced malt/hop flavor. It lacks the complexity of Belgian Saisons, but the effort is there