Rogue Ten Thousand Brew Ale (10,000)

Bottle. Hazy copper, with a thin tan head. Fruity hop aroma covers a bit of sweet malt. Sharp and sweet, with a modestly heavy body. More fruity than resinous in the hop character. Reminds me more of an IIPA.

Orange with a wispy white head. Smells musty and sweaty, not much hops in the nose. Flavor wise, though, it’s astoundingly bitter, and not in a "hoppy IPA" sort of way; rather than citrus or pine or anything hop-flavored, it’s just plain bitter. Kind of sugary, but it’s basically drinking unrefined hop juice.

Coppery color with a dimply off-white head. Aroma is sweet, and only faintly hoppy. Taste is same.... a malty disappointment (please refer to the picture of a man practically swimming in hops) with a relatively timid hop presence and a slight metallic edge that I suppose could be citrus. Don’t get me wrong... the bitterness is there, but every other facet of hoppiness is rather tepid.

Pours a cloudy caramel amber color with a thin white head. The aroma and flavor of this beer fails to entertain me, there’s hops and something that feels like fusel alcohol. The body is light while the carbonation is soft.

Pours a clouded amber with a tan head. Nose is sticky sweet with fruit in there and a very generous hop character. Flavor is thick with hops and an almost salty edge as well. Carries an almost hairspray tone to it as well. Feel is thick on the liquid and not a whole lot of bubble to speak of for the mouth. Drinkable sure. I have to say that for being such a monumental brew, this one falls short of the mark. I think it really could use a good bit of age on it. Then it might be worth checking out. Until then, this is just a mediocre brew for a pretty high price.

Draft at Capone’s. Yakima, Summit and German Saphir hops? No way I could have guessed that. There’s a bit of a pine nut scent in the nose, and some wet, humid leafy notes, along with a more dominant hop resin and oil note - certainly big on the hops, and really this clearly falls in with other Double IPAs. Flavor-wise, it’s crisp, sharp, cracker-like, oily, then sweetly bitter (sharp) and resinous on the palate. Seems like a fairly ordinary DIPA, in the sense that it doesn’t stand out at all, and that’s a pretty big no-no when you’re tyring for a style that is meant to stick out.

Shared by thedm and hotstuff. Out of those heavy, seemingly pointless crock bottles. Hazy orange color with a foamy cream colored head that shrank to a whisp. If jolly rancher made a hop flavored candy, it would taste like this. Tons of hop bitterness - pineapple, grapefruit peel, spruce tips, and some Play D’oh. It really seems a little heavy handed on the hops. And the price point seems a little inexplicable.

Draft at Capone’s. I was starting to think that I’d never have any of this, because there was no way I’d spend that much for the bottle. Hazy orange/amber color. Big caramel backbone beats out the piney hops Very bitter and slightly alcoholic finish.