When branching out from commercial beers, many, many, years ago, one of my “mentors” was an acquaintance who I encountered through a summer job at a paper company.  My only real exposure to craft beer had been Sam Adams summer beer and the impression that Rolling Rock was craft.  He highlighted the trail and gave superb advice, and his name was Ryan.

One night after the three-to-eleven shift, I accepted his invite to try some new beers and hangout for a spell.  This night my palate was privileged to experience Fat Dog Stout from Stoudts Brewing Company, and in the months and years to follow this experience, I rarely looked to Sam Adams and certainly not Rolling Rock as fine examples of craft beer.

This was 1999, craft beer options were far from expansive.  I did have a few leads, and had a recommendation from guru, Ryan, for the best craft beer in the country.  His favorite brewery was Rogue Brewing Company.

Perhaps this advice imprinted upon my naive taste understandings. The years went by and I sought out Rogue beers.  And I did manage to try many Rogue bears over the course of time,  most notable and delicious to me were the Old Crustacean and Double Chocolate Stouts.  Most, however, have left me with a punctuated “meh” feeling.

At the cusp of dismissal, my good friend Justin shared with me Rogues Voodoo Maple Bacon Ale, and completely rekindled my interest.  With an intriguing pink bottle, and edgy marketing via partnership with Voodoo Doughnut, a local to Rogue’s base in Oregon, doughnut establishment,  Rogue created an incredibly unique and satisfying product.

So I sought out the next in the series and found it!  When I did, I balked at the price, $14.99?  This seemed a bit excessive, but, the Maple Bacon was immensely tasty.  I gave of my well-earned dollars.

Yet this, and each subsequent experience, did offer a step-down let down from the Maple Bacon Ale.  The Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana was an artificially-flavored, watery mess.  The Pretzel Raspberry Chocolate Ale was only slightly better but I would only score a four out of ten.  The Lemon Chiffon I summarily ignored, and unless offered freely to me, I will certainly not purchase.

And then this came across my radar.

Despite the on/off relationship I’ve had with Rogue beers, I have a soft spot for spiced, or peppered beers.   I enjoy the flavorful, tingling, edge that peppers and heat add to a delicious libation. I have even concocted a mead of my own using ghost peppers, as I enjoy this particular augmentation.

Ergo, I surrendered my $12.99 and acquiesced to my curiosity.

Rogue Brewing Company – Sriracha Hot Stout – Foremost, the presentation of the package is excellent.  With faithful facsimile to the Sriracha brand, Rogue replicates the sauce packaging perfectly, even adding the green bottle cap as punctuation.  Secondly, the beer itself has no remarkable nose or bouquet, it simply presents itself to the olfactory senses as a roasty, slightly burnt-toast laden, and very slight, almost imperceptibly peppered stout. It languors in the glass, even with a vigorous pour, and reveals a minimal head and murky, stale body.  The taste is best described as, well, boring.  If anyone wished to recreate the flavor behind this beer, I venture that this could be achieved with ease, and at a fraction of the cost.  My suggestion would be to procure one of your favorite local stouts.  I will use Victory Storm King as an example.  The idea behind the selection being, it should be no more than three dollars a bottle.  For clarifications purposes it should probably not be an oatmeal stout, as that variety lends itself to being a bit sweet, and the Rogue Sriracha is assuredly not sweet.   The additional item needed would be a bottle of Sriracha.  At a reasonable estimation, I will say that this will cost four dollars.  When all the materials are in hand, set your glass on the table and place one droplet (1 cent) of Sriracha, in the glass.  After this, pour your favorite stout atop this dot of flavor.  Voila!  Your $3.01 will have as much heat, alcohol content,  and stout flavor as the Rogue Sriracha beer.   If you wish to increase the heat element, simply add extra drops of Sriracha.  In addition to the achieving a perfect replicate, taste wise, your savings are financially and flavorfully substantial.  In conclusion, this is overpriced, marketing driven, gimmicky, flavor-devoid, disappointment. 2/10

Humbly yours,

J