Rogue Youngers Special Bitter

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Newport, Oregon USA

Not a bad beer, but not how I like my ESBs. Bottle from Lees. Aroma of rose, soemary and malt; flavors of rosemary and malt. The spicy nature mitigates the thick, caramel-like maltiness of what I view as an ideal ESB.

POurs an amber color with a small white head. Aroma was of plain malts and some caramel. Flavor was really plain, like most bitters, nothing to write home about at all.

Aromatic hoppy bitter. Some fruit kick here as well (and done well). Soft malts work really well and to my tastes quite a traditional interpretation. Great all day drinker.

Bomber. Copper body, lacy white head with some persistence. Nicely balanced between caramel malts and bitter hops. Some citrus, but mostly English tasting (it’s EKG and WIllamette). Finishes dry. Refreshing. Pricey for a session brew though.

A west coast beer from the indomitable Rogue Brewing. Can they do no wrong? Personally, I don’t think so. At least so far as beer goes, I haven’t had a Rogue brew yet that I did not enjoy. Some I enjoy more than others, but none have been a drain-pour or re-gift to someone.
She pours a burnt amber into my glass with a smidgen of a head which settles into a thin ring around my glass with little tufts of foam floating around on top. I love it when I can swirl my beer and she suds up nicely which Younger’s Special Bitter does. Brussels lace follows their way back down into the brew leaving the sides of the glass clean. The nose is resplendent with sweet malt notes: caramel, nuts, toffee, and a bit of freshly roasted rye bread. A bit of lemon lingers in the back, hinting at a pleasant hop balance to this special bitter. Smooth on the tongue and in the mouth. A medium-light body with little carbonation. Instead it flows like velvet with an almost creamy, buttery palate as it caresses and coats my mouth. Delicate malt character with particularly bright sweet nut and caramel flavors. The lemon hops I smelled in the nose give Younger’s Special Bitter a clean bite which works very well to balance the malts. A lingering bitterness and hints of malted nuts in the aftertaste. An interesting balance of mildly sweet malt notes, nuts, a buttery yet not too heavy body or mouthfeel which is given vibrancy and spark by a crisp bitter lemon hop bite.

650ml - Golden brown pour, light tan head of small bubbles with great lace. Light carbonation, mild nose and malty, mildly hoppy palate that’s the hallmark of the style. Really nice bitter.

Had this on tap at Rogue in San Francisco. We were there on a Monday night and it was dead, but still supercool to be at a Rogue joint. This beer was quite good, and good way to start off, because most of the Rogue brews there were "imperial" something.

On tap@Rouge Ales and Public House. Clear amber body with a thin off-white head. Aroma is citrus flavored hops. Flavor is sweet malty with a harmonic bitterness, citrus/grape. Medium body and a long bitter finish, refreshing. I didn’t know this was only 4,8 ABV when writing this rating, so I found this quite impressive actually.