Rogue Ten Thousand Brew Ale (10,000)

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Newport, Oregon USA

Earthen jug. Expensive, too ($20). Sweet, hoppy, fermented smell. Beautiful apricot aroma. Probably the most well-balanced beer I’ve had. Not too extreme on any front, but very good overall. Not as strong tasting as a barley wine, but a nice, hoppy (and lasting) finish. Very good, but I’ve definately had better beer for less money. I’m still glad I tried it, though.

Nice bottle, to be sure. But then I’ve always liked the Rogue packaging; it’s the beer that is so often indifferent--whereas they were hip and cutting edge ten years ago, now they are too mainstream in flavors for the most experienced beer drinkers. Bronze, moderate hop aroma, fruity, piney. Fizzy palate. Average hop juice, a bit bitter, pretty boring. Where’s the creativity?

sampled from bottle at DLD. glad someone else forked over the cash for this. poured clear amber with white head. nose of fruity hops and some toffee. flavor was hoppy, nutty, and caramel. citrus notes. this had decent written all over it. it’s not even worth $5 let alone 25.

Bottle, Brewskis in Fayetteville. Warm copper pour, small layer of fine white head. Aroma is grapefruit and tropical fruit musk. Surprisingly hop-centric aroma for such a big beer. Flavor is initially a big chewy pine hop character, moving toward a fairly dry finish. Palate is surprisingly delicate. A rather tricky beer--tastes much higher IBU than listed, much lower ABV than listed, (especially for an beer without some added sugar), and very little flavor contribution from the malt bill. It just kind of hangs around, very nuetral, in the background. I enjoyed this, but more as a novelty than as something I would want regularily. Even at 1/2 the price. Thanks Andy and James for sharing!

Draft: Nice crystal clear amber brew with a big white head. Not a ton of hop aroma, definitely not dry hopped. This beer is very malty and sweet but very bitter also. Very clean hop bitterness without much flavor, just a touch of citrus and floral notes. The body is medim-thick and going on syrupy.

Cost brunted by sliffy. Hazy brown orange pour with an off white head.Aroma of musty pine some spice characters, caramel malt as well. Flavor of piney hops, caramel malt, and some boozey elements. Medium bodied, bittersweet throughout with a nice resiny hop finish.

Hazy orange color with a thin white head. Quickly dissipating. Aroma hints at the IBUs with some citrus & apricot. Alcohol is noticeable in the aroma. Upon tasting this one I notice that the alcohol is WAAAAAAY to prevalent but underneath there is some enjoyable pear and citrus taste. Maybe one day the background will be sweet. This one just seems young but it’s not bad. You see folks on RB complain about the prices of beers that we all agree are great fairly often. But the fact that this beer retails at almost $19 and defines mediocrity should definitely be noted in most reviews. This is not a bad beer, but it is a rip-off.

1L (very expensive) Bottle: Pours a shiny gold color with nice pretty head, just the right carbonation. The nose is quite floral and earthy with a strange blend of hop. I’m liking the hops, but there’s no caramel or other expected malt flavors to go along with it. I don’t want just jam, I want some toast too. It’s still balanced and very drinkable at 10%, can’t even taste the abv. Finishes like I want my money back. Maybe Pacman was too much for this?