Rogue Creamery 80th Anniversary Ale by Rogue Brewing

1487437_10101765856316750_6844808376240184135_nRating: 5/5

Rogue Creamery 80th Anniversary Ale by Rogue Brewing is an 8.5% ABV Strong Imperial Brown Ale brewed with 13 ingredients including Chocolate nibs.

Label:
1933 to 2013
It’s Rogue Creamery’s year for a Pearls and Diamond celebration, and Rogue Ales has handcrafted ale to honor their commitment to sustainability and creating award winning cheese.

Brewed and Bottled by Rogue Ales Newport, OR 97365

13 ingredients: 2-Row, Munich, C75, Soba, Carafa Special II, Brown & Rogue Farms Dare and Risk Malts; Rogue Farms Revolution & Rebel Hops; Chocolate Nibs, Free Range Coastal Water & Pacman Yeast.

20 Degrees Plato
36 IBU
81 AA
87degrees Lovibond
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What can I say, I have never tried this beer but just the idea of trying a Rogue Anniversary beer, well, Rogue Creamery’s anniversary beer, I was like, fuck yeah. By the way, while Rogue Ales and Rogue creamery share the same name, they are indeed unique entities and to pay tribute to one another, this awesome beer was born in collaboration.

Aromas:
Toffee, dulce de leche caramel, German dopplebock aromas of sugary dark fruit raisins, figs, clove spice, molasses, cherries, maple, vanilla, hazelnuts, pecan pie, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, almond milk, biscuit bread, rye bread and brown sugar.

Flavors:
Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, dark fruits like raisins, figs, cherries, cinnamon, raisin bread pudding, molasses, lactose, hazelnut nectar, almond milk, pecan pie, flan, dulce de leche, crème brulee, maple, vanilla, rye bread, cinnamon, brown sugar and banana clove spice.

Aftertaste:
Pecans, chocolate, cinnamon, lactose, raisins, clove spice and earthy hop notes linger. No alcohol in the taste. Moderate drinkability with full body mouthfeel.

Overall:
Freaking perfect! I tried this with a piece of Munster cheese and it was damn good it really solidified the caramel aspects of the beer. You don’t need to try it with a cheese but just by itself it is very delicious. Taste more along the lines of a German Doppelbock or a winter warmer. It is very delicious regardless and I definitely think fits the Rogue creamery’s honor. Now, I should go online and buy some of their cheeses as they seem very delicious! Definitely give this one a try, I was rather intrigued by the sweet flavors this brown ale had to offer.

Anime Corner:
Original artwork by Kuromiya was chosen in this pairing to represent the delicous lactic flavors of the beer and to pair with the colors of the bottle and label. The character’s blue hair (maybe blue cheese) and flan pair with the colors. The flavors are obvious in this as it is a beer about a creamery and creameries sell puddings and sweet vanilla desserts. The pudding she is eating and her dress colors represent some of the prime flavors of the beer such as the vanilla, cherry, flan, chocolate, brown sugar, cinnamon and so forth. I can go on and say she the ribbon is like a cows horns and her breast combined with the pink dress represent the cow’s utt…oh… well sure why not 😉 . Whatever you say man. Anyways, I am sure there are other sweet things that can be said about this pairing. Oh yeah and the purple things, dark fruits!

2014 Kentucky Breakfast Stout by Founders Brewing

10153857_10101765853442510_4347200059704568674_n 10172866_10101765854375640_3467829471452274012_n 10154216_10101765854969450_6614526836256076940_n 10170991_10101765855548290_8884167648525842387_nRating: 6/5

2014 Kentucky Breakfast Stout by Founders Brewing is an 11.2% ABV Imperial Stout brewed with chocolate and coffee and aged in oak Bourbon Barrels.

Label:
The Amazing Kosmicki’s
Highly Acclaimed KBS
A Flavored Stout is good for everything a flavored stout ought to be Good For.
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Considered by Beeradvocate.com as the 5th best beer in the world (April 2014). An extremely special thanks to my great friend Aaron at www.beermetaldude.com for hooking me up with a limited and highly sought after beer that pretty damn near impossible to get around California. Highly rated and one that I’ve had in my list of most wanted to try. Story goes that this beer is actually aged in a cave in whiskey barrels. Something about this makes it, I guess adventurous for the most part. Let us see how glamorous the hype is.

Aromas:
Damn, the difference in complexity of the Bourbon is very complex. Not just the typical bourbon here. This in fact blends so well with the chocolate rainbow I get of the milk, dark, sweet, bakers, fudge, and chocolate shake along with aromas rocky road ice cream, prailine, chocolate mousse, marshmallows, smores, waffle cone, brown sugar, flan, sweetened condensed milk, oak, dark fruits like plums, cherries, raisins, dulce de leche caramel, mocha coffee, espresso, vanilla, toffee, cocoa, maple, molasses, honey and lots of other great sweet aromas.

Flavors:
Milk, dark, sweet, bakers, fudge chocolate, chocolate milk shake, coconut, vanilla, oak, maple syrup, honey, rye whiskey, bourbon, almond joy, flan, toffee, mocha, cherries, choco flan, dark fruits like raisins, plums, black currants, sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, waffle cone, marshmallows, rocky road ice cream, pecan pie, prailine, hazelnut, dulce de leche carame, molasses, cocoa pebbles cereal, chocolate mousse, crème brulee, frappuccino, pancho pantera milk shake, rye toast, chocolate funnel cake and more. I have to stop there as trying to keep up with the complexity was quite the task and well, just like some of the best beers I have reviewed on this site, this is very damn well made.

Aftertaste:
Lingering complexities of the chocolate mocha coffee, waffle cone, bourbon vanilla, oak and roasted notes. No alcohol in the flavors, sipping yet damn smooth with a full body making this one of those beers that is dangerous since you want to keep drinking a lot of this, but just take your time with this one.

Overall:
Damn Damn Damn!! It’s like Firestone Parabola with coffee and well a more complex Black Xantus but you somehow got all the uniqueness of the barrel and sweet flavors of the chocolate and the fancy coffee all are exceptional and exceed my expectations greatly. This is definitely on par with the best beers in the world and rightfully so along with the beers I have tried that blew me away. Not one thing takes form the other and it is balanced out very well. This is damn delicious and well I can’t thank Aaron enough for this great beer. Highly highly HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

Anime Corner:
The one and only, powerful bounty hunter, Samus Aran from Metroid was used in this pairing for several reasons. First, the cave aging brings me back to the days of Metroid and the subterrania that she had to explore killing aliens and obtaining powers. This beer is quite the cavernous adventure and just as such deserves an unleashing at the complexities of not just the cave aging but the what Samus has to offer. Yes, under that bad ass Varia sweet is a warm hearted yet very mind strong and and powerful lady (alcohol, complexity, ABV%). I had no other choice but to choose such a bad ass character. She partially pairs with the label colors as some of her Varia suit compliment. She is definitely hard to get as she is always lost in space claiming the next bounty. She has visited the site as she has with some of my other beers, but specifically pointing out such great characteristics of her very damn well compliment this world class beer. See You Next Mission!

By the way Nintendo Fans, I approve of her bad ass new look and high heel speed boosters!

Black Butte XXIV by Deschutes

Rating: 4.85/5

Black Butte XXIV by Deschutes of Bend Oregon is their 24th Birthday, 11%ABV, Reserve Imperial Porter. This beer is quite a good beer

Label: XXIV. 24 years after Black Butte Porter’s debut, our potent, layered, imperial tribute returns. As usual, it’s a jazz riff, guided by the brewer’s muse and the lure of exotic ingredients. Artisanal dark chocolate nibs. Daglet dates. Mission figs. It may, possibly, hopefully, be the best edition yet. But, as it should be, you’ll be the judge of that. 

Upon opening it had a sweet chocolate and coffee cake like smell as well as some nutty hoppy smell like an amber but not quite as fragrant. Taste is pretty delicious. Taste of dark chocolate expresso, coffee cake with brown sugar (Like the one the School used to make :P), caramel mocha, vanilla, bourbon, cherries, slight rapberry, biscuit bread, dark fruits like figs and plums like with some earthy hop bitterness. The aftertaste is like almonds, hazelnut or peanuts but bitter chocolate and coffee in the background. I give this beer a lot of credit. It does good to hide the alcohol all too well but also has a great balance with bitter and sweets. Overall a damn good beer if you can find it. A recommended for Porters or Stout lovers 😛