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Part of the NBA pre-season for me is seeing who The Portland Trail Blazers have teamed up with for a Blazer beer. This time it is Rogue Ales & Spirits bringing out the Rip City IPA.
Gonna have to send my mom to one of the Rogue pubs to get me a can so that I can root on our youngsters as they hopefully take the first steps towards a future NBA title.
Science and beer are inextricably linked and two recent news stories really highlight that fact.
First up is Half Moon Bay Brewery and their NASA wastewater, HERE.
Salmon, do to our human meddling are having a hard time finding their way back upstream but trub from beer making might help guide them, HERE.
Been a long while since I have had a Rogue beer and even longer since a Dead Guy even though that is really the only one available in SoCal.
Here is my review of the Dead Guy variant Dead ‘n’ Dead.
Whiskey barrel chips meets Maibock amped to 9.5% abv. Oak and alcohol on the nose. Kinda hoppy red ale initially before the Germanic influence creeps in. Was not expecting the bubbly nature, thought it would be more placid on the palate. Even so, you can tell this is strong beer. Nothing hidden here. The whiskey chips do their job, adding the spirit without bowling over the beer underneath.
Might be more iced coffee time than hot but either way I suggest you check out A History of Coffee podcast.
Hosted by documentary maker James Harper and professional historian Jonathan Morris cover the history of coffee, sustainability, the rise of craft coffee and the future of coffee.
It is a six episode series with nearly as many bonus episodes and the hosts strike a good balance of positive and negative, light and dark.
This is a bit of a no brainer. Look to the stout section of your beer shop cooler and search out their coffee beers. But to throw a twist, look for a golden coffee stout. Or to get even twistier, look for one of the Oregon coffee IPA’s like Java the Hop from Fort George or Cold Brew IPA from Rogue Ales.
Sometimes my scrolling gets a little too fast, but this photo stopped me…
Gin finished in Oregon Pinot Noir barrels. I have been tempted to buy Rogue Spirits but this will be on my list for sure on my next Oregon trip.
File this under, should be done more. Rogue is making a limited run of blank canvas cans for artists and beer lovers to adorn with their own design for the fall – Halloween staple from the Oregon brewery. If I had any (I mean any) skills, I would give it a shot.
New Year and a new label for Rogue’s annual seasonal. This year the old school Oregon brewery brewed up a dark ale with candy cap mushrooms, a recipe sure to be divisive and having people curious about the taste.
From my viewpoint Coffee IPA’s have similar issues to black IPA’s. The main one being that it can be devilishly hard to balance the two competing forces of coffee and hops. Rogue Ales Cold Brew IPA comes close though. The coffee from Stumptown dominates in both aroma and flavor with a kind of green, unroasted bean touch at first. Then a flowering of iced coffee flavors swirl into view. There is a tiny touch of citrus bitterness from the hops at the end.
Now if this was labeled as a coffee pale or coffee XPA or just a cold brew ale, I would be more generous in my praise. It is a tasty brew and I do enjoy the aroma a lot but it doesn’t quite reach the IPA minimum bar.
I will admit it. I graduated in the Class of ’88 when North Coast, Deschutes and Rogue started their breweries. So I was drawn to this beer the moment I heard about it. So, expectations were high from a brewery reputation standpoint and a sentimental viewpoint too.
’88 pours a bright and clear orange color. The head is bubbly and then fades. It is 10% abv after all. Initial aroma is reminiscent of many a barleywine before. With some orange notes at the back too. Good sparkly and carbonation to this that fades into an orange zest and alcohol taste. The top of the mouth is coated with hops of a medium/high bitterness. That orange taste could be amped up some to combat the slickness and the alcohol but a damn fine sippin’ beer.
The collaboration craze shows no sign of abating and I, for one, am not surprised. If brewers can be creative with malt and hops then why would that end when more industry friends are invited in.
Now Deschutes will collaborate with breweries from the Class of ’88. North Coast – Rogue – Goose Island – Great Lakes Brewing who have all reached the 25 year mark. This will be a series of beers honoring that joyous mark.
According to schedule the first to appear will be a barleywine in March of this year.
Then a couple months later a Smoked Imperial Porter will be released and finally a Belgian Style Strong Golden will arrive late in the year.