Rogue Imperial Porter

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Newport, Oregon USA

(Draught @ Papago) The beer pours from the tap a deep brown to almost black with ruby highlights, the head a deep tan color, creamy and a good two fingers in height, upon depletion, the lacing a thick sheet to obfuscate the glass. Nose is rich in toasted grain, hop floral, caramel, and a bit of chocolate, a real pleasure to sniff. Start has a toasted grain semi-sweetness, hops provide a nice bite, top is medium in feel. Finish has a respectable acidity, the hops have a scrumptious spiciness, somewhat sweet aftertaste hangs on for quite awhile, a damn good Porter, and well worth a sample.

Another great Rogue regular. Well made, well balanced. A great porter indeed.

Had this on tap at Barley’s in Asheville. Appearance is black. Aromas of hops and coffee. Has a dry texture. Not just a hint of hops, but a whole lot of hops. Very smooth. An incredible beer.

This pours a rich opaque sable with a fine-bubbled tan head. Aroma is strong and like mocha with some smokiness. Flavor is mainly of roast coffee with a smoky undertone and hints of unsweetened chocolate. Smooth, silky texture leaves a chocolaty but not sweet aftertaste.

Deep dark, rich brew with a minuscule greyish head. Looked flat, but was nicely carbonated. Slight nose of alcohol with notes of chocolate and vanilla, much like Rogue’s imperial stout. Nice touch of floral, spicy, oniony Summit hops. Creamy and mega-quaffable. Niiiice!

"Nice brown cap with a very dark brown body. First sip just blew my mind, so very tasty and yum yum yummy. Flavour is rich and full . malts are toasted to burnt with mild coffee, bitter to milk chocolate(depending on sip), strawberries and raisin bran muffins. Aroma is mild but complex hot chocolate, muffins, coffee. Thank god not a single trace of west coast hops only some mildly bitter herbal hops come out. The 8.2% is undetectable. I swear I’m getting faint traces of watermelon jolly ranchers. Mouth feel is silky smooth and seems to coat your mouth and throat in a soft blanket of love. This is by far the best I’ve had from the XS series no other one even comes close."

Bottle (in NZ). Was called "liquid marmite" by some of my drinking companions - no idea! Lots of chocolate for me. Delicious, memorably smooth, and scarily scoffable!

26/08/2009. Hashigo Zake. What do you drink after an (as usual) amazing dinner at Wellington’s best Indian (Great India). A black chocolate delight of a beer. Perfect sipping for the cool nights of late winter. Intense dark chocolate flavour with an underlying sweetness that carries more than a hint of dark currants and raisin, along with a pleasant alcohol warmth... and then a long bittersweet finish. This beer as true super heavyweight and. although it feels a lot bigger and sweeter in the mouth, it is just as drinkable as the XS Imperial Stout. Thumbs up and high-fives for Rogue.