Rogue Smoke Ale

2004 bottle. Oh ya, here we go. Pours a lovely amber-auburn color. But wait, where’s all the sediment? Not saving it right away. But that’s understandable, it takes a while to dig in to the sediment. This one was light reddish-amber to murky beige towards the end. Aroma reeks of alderwood. Nuts, caramel, almonds cashews and then it hits! The hops??? What the hell? This is an APA with smoked malt. At first I’m disgusted at the lack of style guidelines, but then I come to and realize how well they did with this one, and then I also remember that I don’t care about style guidelines. Beautiully balanced. Hoppy? Yes, but it’s perles. You can handle perle hops. Moderately clean finish, light smoke. Great stuff!

At FOBAB ’04 labelled "Smoak". Pours a light brown with a light tan head, which suprised me not being black. Light smokey aroma and flavor which is a welcome relief at the festival since smoke beers can stick with you for awhile.

FOBAB 2004: I had a version of this called "Smoak," aged in French oak red wine barrels. It poured a clear light brown color with the slightest of white heads. The aroma was that of bacon and heavy pork sausages. Surprisingly, the smoke flavor wasn’t real heavy, perhaps caused by the oak barrel aging. Tasty and dry. I enjoy a good rauchbier, and this is that.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/events-detail.asp?eventID=1199>Festival of Barrel Aged Beers, Chicago, IL 11/06/2004<font size=-1>

This was most like sipping a bottle of liquid smoke. Almost overpowering. The description "like drinking a campfire" is perfect. Even though I wouldn’t have this again, it was easily one of the most memorable beers I’ve ever had. A wonderful new experience. If you like this style, I would imagine it is one of the best- as is most beer from Rogue. Cheers to Rogue for trying something different. Equally memorable was the Chipotle Ale from Rogue. Although I didn’t care for that one either, I put the remainder of the bottle in my homemade chili and it was awesome.

Nip XS bottle... Poured a cloudy reddish copper color with no head or lacing. Smokey meat, salt and malt aroma. Taste is dry and smokey, woody, lightly salty, finished lightly hopped. Tastes like drinking a campfire.

I like the smoked beer, and this one is up there! If you like rauchbier or you just want to try something different give this one a whril. It also goes great with a medium bodied robusto cigar

Cowboys light your fires, cause Rogue Smoke is the real deal. I am becoming an increasing fan of the rauchbier style and this does not disappoint in the least.

on tap at rogue in newport. nice idea, big bacon and charcoal aroma, surprisingly light-bodied, similar flavour as aroma but seemed slightly muted