Rogue Kells Irish Style Lager

Nice yellow color, and medium head. Light hop notes on pour. Very clean taste light taste. Wish I had a few more.

Deep blond pour with a large, foamy head that sticks to the glass, leaving chunky lace. A sweetish, pilsner grainy bouquet. Some indistinct citrus notes, sweet grains on the tongue, with some slightly herbal hues. A lightly bitter back mingles with the rest of the flavors. The finish lasts a while, but I wish it was drier. The lasting effervescence isn’t doing it for me. Soft carbonation levels don’t actually help the mouthfeel in this case. Usually, Rogue is pretty spot-on in my opinion, but this one doesn’t seem up to par with most of their line.

Behold, the most futile marketing in the world of beer. Woe to the man who tries to separate the very bedrock of Northwestern European brewing - that is, the fusion of Irish Beer and Guinness. No one hesitates for even a moment when thinking of the natural, cultural icon of the Irishman’s (or woman’s) drinking staple. Sure, there are other Irish beers, but they are precisely that: OTHERS. And so we have another other, American born, the Rogue Kells Beer with a charming Darbie O’ Gill kind of fellow on the front. A mottled, fuzzy white head rises from the pour, slowly filling up into a translucent amber liquod. The smell exhibits a slight booziness with white grapes, wheat, damp straw, Elmer’s glue stick, light pear and a hint of avocado, but overall quite weak and attenuated. The taste is similarly feeble, with a light crisp palate, white grape flavor, pear, a fistful of flowers and a buzzy but featureless, genderless sweet after taste. I rather like this beer (Guinness it is not) save for a distastefully plain finish.

Bomber from Total Wine. Brassy gold color with a decent white head. Aroma of pale malt and noble hop (Sterling?). Medium plus body with sharp, fizzy carbonation. Flavor is much like a golden ale - bready and bitter. Except the bitter is like Hallertau rather than citrus. Though there does seem to be a touch of citrus. Good lager.

Pours hazy yellow with nice foamy head. Aroma is hops and fruit. Nice carbonation. Very clean and crisp beer.

This beer is a perfect example of what happens when a very good brewer tries to flood the market with too many new products....every now and then, they are really gonna hit a loser. If someone had offered me this beer in an unmarked glass, I would swear I was drinking a lower grade BMC product or Caribean lager. Pale yellow with little carbonation, thin white head and a grainy nose. Flavor was, again, the grainy quality of a cheap BMC, and the palate was watery, metallic and stale. Stick to quality and not quantity, Rogue!!!

Slightly hazy straw colour with a nice thick head. Herbal nose with clean, strawlike pale malt notes. Clean fresh bread malts on the palate with herbal hops, a light lemony character and a hint of mushroom. A bit of spritziness in the finish highlights a slight grainy accent to the pale malts. It’s hitting the spot.

Thin palate. Yellow pour with a sharp bitter tone. Caramel malt is very prevalent.