Rogue Smoke Ale

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: Smoked
Newport, Oregon USA

22oz bottle pours amber slightly cloudy with a short white head that fades quickly to a ring but leaves a little lacing after that. Aroma of a campfire, and light burnt malts. Flavor is roasted, and burnt malts, a touch of caramel, some definite smoky/oak notes. Medium bodied and rather easy to drink. Nothing offensive about this at all. Just an average drinker to me though. Nothing great.

This is a ballsy beer considerng it taste like smoke! I give them credit for trying but I wouldnt drink it again.

Golden orange appearance. It actually does have a smokey taste - kind of like burnt straw though in a much more apealing way. There is a slight citrus and rasberry aspect to it as well and some pepper/spice. Hopps and malt permeate the beverage to make it quite palatable. This bear goes great with a cigarette!

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry - his bottle. Clear amber colour with a big beige head. Big aroma of campfire & burnt wood, with roasted malt and a bit of funkiness in the background. Flavour has strong malt notes, nutty and fruity, with some barnyard funk, and not as much smoke as I expected. Don’t get me wrong, it’s smokey, but the aroma suggested a lot more than I got in the flavour. Nice stuff, though.

Bottle (650ml). Shared with GregClow, my bottle. I really wanted to love this one - Rogue; rauch style (shaddup, jerc!) - what’s not to love? Hem. Poured clear deep copper with a small fizzy off-white head. From the neck on first pop, it was really smokey; sniffing it out of the glass it was funky, almost vegetal, grainy dry malt, the smokiness of a recently dowsed campfire, quite leafy and mild. Taste - ahhh, cowbarn. Seriously, my cousins had a cowbarn, I know that funky/dungy tang - we got dry funky hops here, and woodsmoke - on the plus side, this beer really tastes natural, no chems or preservatives, but dang that barn-y funk was something. Average body, mouthfeel was astringent and smokey, with a long bitter-herbal-smoke finish and aftertaste, Greg’s wife noted it was like the aftermath of a barnfire - or burning cowpats (not quite dried enough). And ultimately, it wasn’t even all that smokey. Glad to have had it, though - while I can’t in good conscience agree that this is a "rauchbier", it was unusual - and another Rogue sampled!

Hooray, Rogue can actually make a beer that isn’t hyper-hoppped... In fact, the hops are very mild in this one. Poured a nice clear amber red color with a finger head that dissipated quickly to a thin covering that laced ok, but certainly didn’t "coat" the glass. Flavor was smokey with a semi-sweet base. Mouthfeel was carbonated and moderate to heavy. A complementary meal with this one would be nice. (Second pouring of 25oz bottle revealed heavy sedimentation.)

The 22 ounce bottle poured a clear, deep reddish amber colored beverage with a small creamy white head that was fully lasting and left good lacing on the glass. The aroma reminded me of sunset at the beach sitting around a driftwood fire with friends. It had that seawater dampened smoke and ash character. The body was medium-full with smooth carbonation and a creamy, smooth texture. The flavor started off full of smoke with a strange sweetness to it. The finish was long and although the intensity of the smoke died down a bit it never went away.

Frisco Grille (Rogue Wave Weekend) - Murky rust, thin light tan creamy head. Fantastic aroma of sweet smokey bacon, campfire, wood, and touches of citrus. Well balanced flavor tones of all the above with smoke dominating from start to finish. Rivals Schlenkerla for the smokiest I have encountered. For me it works. Those without a taste for rauchbiers beers need not apply. Medium bodied, soft carbonation, bittersweet, smokey finish. Great beer for sipping with b-b-que...