Rogue Monk Madness

Tallahassee, Fl - Leon Pub - 22 oz bomber. Dark copper pour, nice thick off white head that leaves good thick lacing. Light sprucey aroma, very fresh, hints of fresh fruit. Juicy flavor, some requisite west coast grapefruity hop goodness, some sweet raisiny maltiness which is blended together somewhat well but at first is somewhat muddled. Detect a bit of chocolate in the finish. Mouthfeel is stinging at first, but mellows as it warms. Good flavorful blast from the king of hops.

Bomber: Aroma is quite a gentle mix of a light caramel malt and some hops that intermingle nicely. Almost a waffles and maple syrup scent, a light dose of chocolate and some grain notes as well. Appearance is a semi-translucent reddish/brown with a frothy tan head that lingers. Flavor consists of upfront mixture of the caramel malts and the hops come through on the back end. A light roasted peanut note, rather sticky on the mouth feel as well. Overall, It’s alright. Nothing special. I guess Rogue is hit or miss. Cheers!

Aroma of licorice and piny hops. Pours a nice reddish-orange, foamy head. Malty backbone, several hops are detectable in the finish. Alcohol wallop smacks the taste buds.

Appearance: Pours out a very, very dark amber body with a tall, beige-colored head that provided some spectacular-looking lace. Smell: A thichk, rich breadiness prevails in the aroma, with lesser notes of citrus and spice peaking out from behind the freshly-baked loaves. Taste: By far, one of the most pronounced, clear cut toast-like flavors I have ever come across. Throw in some hints of brown sugar and cocoa, and it makes for one very complex malt profile. Plus, got a load of that spiciness! A crisp, citrusy hop flavor begins to creep in like an early morning fog just before you make your way to the moderately bitter finish. To credit of the brewers, this one wasn’t resentfully hopped into oblivion. Reasonable! Responsible, even! Good job, Rogue. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, but surprisingly chewy and creamy. Drinkability: This was nice, and certainly very interesting. Heck, I may even purchase another bomber of ’Monk Madness’. No promises, though. I’ve had a few people tell me Rogue managed to push the hop meter to "WAY 2 X-TREME" in regards to this release, but for me it was rather well-balanced. Go figure.

It is good to know that while Rogue may change beer names faster than drinkers can keep track, they manage a consistent pose, be it man or woman, on each style of beer – a triumphal arm in the air and a beer in the other, with a smirk and an engorged eye to the onlooker. Too bad that all the work they put into this epic posture doesn’t extend to the beer itself. Monk Madness is a pretty pour, beaming a stunning VIP red carpet red, and topped with a melted cheese head, both soft and swollen in appearance, with a slight yellow in a greater dome of white velvet. The aroma continues the show, with a high profile display of candied apple, blackberry, blackberry, red vine candy, copious grapefruit and a puff of chalk, freshly stamped from the old school eraser. It is only when we come to the taste that the performance comes to an abrupt, tragic end. Curtains fall and the house empties as a churlish bitterness and boorish watery quality invade the mouth. Between cascades of popping bubbles and internecine bouts of bitterness there are small squeals of berry taste. Its generically berry, like a candy or drink mix, but pleasingly berry nevertheless. But every time one scrapes up the courage to peep through the furor of the wreaking, wrecking, burning bitterness it’s immediately squashed, sent to its berry tragic demise. As long as you don’t drink the Monk Madness, it’s a great beer. Use it to scent a living room, or put it in front of a window for a nice light refractory touch to any room. One more complaint: I can’t find anything in here relating to or about monks. So why call a perfectly secular beer Monk Madness? Seems like a paltry attempt at drawing on the monastic association with trappist ales to sell a clearly inferior brew. Gah, just too many things wrong here. Poor tasting and irritating, the Monk Madness desperately needs to be renamed and resold so that everyone can forget the whole debacle that it is.

Body is brown, nice tan head. Aroma is somewhat yeasty, light caramel, some fruits. Taste is spicy, light alcohol content, some caramel, a bit yeasty. Decent beer.

This beer pours a deep amber color with light brown hints. The head is light tan with a small amount of lacing. The smell is some light caramel and earthy tones. The taste was very thin and left a lot to be desired on the palate. For all the layers of malt and hops that they advertise, I would have expected something a little more complex and flavorful.

The 22 ounce bottle poured a crystal clear, ruby red beverage with an ample rocky light tan head that was fully lasting and left beautiful lacing on the glass. The aroma was somewhat disappointing in that it was so subtle that it was almost missing. There was a slight note of an earthy leather mixed with faint citrus hops. It had a full body with lively carbonation and an almost arid dry texture. The flavor started off lightly bitter and the bitterness grows steadily through the finish to become moderate at the end. It was just a bit astringent at the end with a hint of alcohol warmth.