Rogue Brewery: Chipotle Ale

I love me some Rogue Ales, and I love me some Chipotle peppers, normally in something a sauce or the like. I have never had them combined, nor would I ever have imagined them together. As I walked down the beer aisle I saw chipotle on a bottle and thought, “well that’s a disaster waiting to happen.” Then I saw the Rogue label and changed my mind quickly, and decided I best grab it and drink it, and now here we are.

As I poured this beer into the glass, I first noticed the beautiful golden brown hue of the beer. The head developed generously and in a lighter almost white color. My next experience was so take in the bouquet of the ale, initially I smelled a light almost floral tone of the ale provided by the hops, followed by a more forceful sharp malt smell. At this point I expected great things from the Chipotle Ale. As I took my first sip I was not disappointed. Initially I noticed that the chipotle flavor was a little underplayed, however, as the beer warmed up a bit the pepper flavor became more pronounced in the after taste of the beer.

Now, in my opinion, spicy food pair oddly well with a beer that has a hopped flavor to it. While this ale is only has a 35 IBU rating, the hops used are pronounced in this ale up front, followed by the pepper and smoky malt flavor. It provides a unique flavor yet pleasing flavor combination. A few final details: I used a craft pub glass for this beer. As I continually seem to be emphasizing the glass that closes in towards the top a bit captures the head and bouquet a little better than your standard glass. However, a standard glass will serve just fine here. Also, a chicken or pork dish are ideal pairings for this beer, especially if spiced correctly! Bottoms up and enjoy!

Over All-Rating: 8.25

Approachability (for new comers): 8

Flavor: 8

Pour/head: 8

Bouquet:  9

Hopworks Urban Brewery: Rise-Up Red

Over All-Rating: 8.25

Approachability (for newbies): 6

Flavor: 8

Pour/head: 9

Bouquet: 10 

Normally when I think of Oregon I only have bad memories. My first car trip through the state I got a flat in the middle of nowhere and the car was stranded for the weekend with that flat. However, the breweries I have been writing reviews about have worked to change my feeling toward Oregon, and this beer is no exception. Due to a recent post about organic chocolate on linkedin.com by fellow writer Mike Smith, along with the admission that the word “organic” on my food scares me, I decided to venture out and try an organic beer. To be honest, my expectations were not very high. I also decided to pick a lighter ale than I normally choose for myself.

As the title suggests, I went with a red-ale. Rise-Up Red is a NW Red Ale that is “hopped to the rafters with locally grown Cascade and Centennial hops,” according to the bottle. I love hops (to be honest I love most things that go in beer), and a beautifully hopped ale is just what I wanted to drink! This beer has an IBU rating of 60. If you like IPA’s you will love this beer. It also has an abv of 5.8% so, it is a little safer to drink out of the 1 pint 6 oz. bottle I bought.

My first smell and taste of this beer hinted, hinted is an understatement here really; perhaps, screamed is a better word…this beer screamed hops. The scream begins in the bouquet which contains the floral aroma of hops. The initial sip, especially with the head remaining on top, overwhelms the palate with the bitterness of hops. Once your senses return, there is a smell and taste that I liken to scotch or whiskey, a warm malt flavor. It is ever so faint and in the background, however, it balances out the hop flavor of this ale nicely.

As you can see, I used an English style Pub glass to drink this beer. I chose this glass because it is still on the darker side, and the English Pub glass is designed to enhance darker ales. However, a normal pub glass, or craft pub glass, will also serve just as well. There is no need for any super specialized beer glass with this ale, which is not to say that it is not a special ale.

Ninkasi’s ReNEWale 2012

Over All-Rating: 9

Approachability (for new comers): 10

Flavor: 8

Pour/head: 8

Bouquet: 10

 

Happy New Year to all (but mainly those that live in the PNW)! Ninkasi is a new brewery to me, but I have enjoyed all of my beers by them, and since I ended 2011 with Ninkasi Sleigh’r (that posted in 2012) I thought I would start with their New Years beer the ReNEWale 2012! This ale’s pour revealed a dark colored ale with a dark tan and thin head. The aroma brought to mind brown sugar or my wife’s molasses cookies. The smells of winter in my mind for these smells produce the thought of warmth in my head, which is marvelous on a cold night.

This beer is smooth and not bitter at all. It has more of a sweet aftertaste and a very faint malt taste on the front end. The sweetness in the aftertaste brought brown sugar back to mind. While the brewery intended this beer to be more dark chocolate in nature, the bitterness on the front end is reminiscent of dark chocolate. The beer also feels lighter on the palette and the flavor spectrum balances out nicely, with a light bitterness followed by the sweetness.

To talk a bit about this beers attributes, it boasts a 5.9% abv which is heavier than the average, but still light enough to enjoy without feeling tipsy at the end of the 22 oz bottle that it is available in. The bitterness rating 38 IBU which is on the less bitterside of a scale that tops out at 120 IBU (http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/01/24/beer-styles-ibu-chart-graph-bitterness-range/) . Ninkasi invested 9 different types of malt into this beer while only 2 types of hops where used, this is why the beer feels more ‘warm’ in flavor than bitter in flavor.

I seem to be favoring the darker ales and lagers for my posts so far, this means that once again a stemmed porter/stout glass should be used, as this is a porter. This glass allows the drinker to hold the stem, which keeps body heat away from the beer, in addition the smaller top captures the head and bouquet of the beer. I recommend you go out and get this beer quickly as it is a seasonal available from January 1^st to March 1^st. Enjoy and bottoms up!

Iron Horse’s: Irish Death

6/10

This beer looks super dark. And it’s name indicates to me that it should have a hard bite, and be stout! It is not. This beer has a sweet smell, that reminds me of brown sugar. The flavor is reflective of the smell. The beer is very smooth. I am not sure I like the taste, it is not what I expected at all. Maybe I got a bad batch. I would not recommend this beer to anyone with my taste. That being said I know many people have many different tastes and the beer is definitely brewed with quality, so worth a try for those who like sweeter beers.

Red Hook’s Late Harvest Ale

9/10

It’s getting to that season! FALL BEERS!! This is my favorite season, and this is my first 2010 fall beer. I love the amber and dark beers that come out this year. A pumkin ale will almost always get a 10/10 rating. This one is not pumpkin but it is good! It’s smooth, full of flavor, smokey with a sweet finish. No hop flavor, but has the signature of a malty beer. Goes good with a nice coffee cake (if you are doing it for dessert) an apple pie, or pumkin pie!

Cheers!

If you have any beers you wish me to review let me know!

The Old

If you havn’t noticed, I am really just up-loading old beer blogs so that they are all eventually here. As I try new ones I will add those, some of the old ones will actually have to be re-written as my tastes have changed since I initially tried them. I actually just bought Alaskan Amber for the first time.  I haven’t popped open a bottle yet, but I am looking forward to it, so stay tuned for more classic beer blogs and some newbies too.