Rogue - Brutal IPA

Have I ever had a bad beer from Rogue? No, I certainly have not! Have I heard stories about their beers ability to last when it travels... Well that's a different matter. Most septics I bump into, especially Oregon locals, have told me that Rogue are considerably better when had closer to home. I hear this and I consider the beers I've had, things like Yellow Snow IPA, like Mocha Porter, like the Voodoo Donuts, and though the latter was not as good as it could have been, they were still solid.

Well here's a beer that describes itself as Brutal, a bold claim if ever there was one. I essentially bought this because it sounded like a challenge. Not that I'm an advocate for massively over hopping beers, I've always believed in balance but my theory here is that it must be extreme enough to justify the name but restrained enough for it not to be utter swill. I'm actively hoping for tears of pain through the tears of joy.

It starts well, it's got a solid pour that even a chimp could get right. It's got a staunch finger of head that's bubbly, thick and doughy, which soon recedes into a light, white, layer of algae on this murky pond of mysteries. It smells sweet, bready, lightly spicy with hints of toffee and caramel thrown into the mix for good measure. Not entirely what I was expecting from something called BRUTAL IPA, or even anything I'd expect from a regular IPA, this seems to have let the malt do the talking, leaving the hops to lie in wait.

The taste is, well it's not brutal, but it's still bloody lovely. It has that slight glacier mint feel that you get with the Polaris hop but there's a figgy pudding element as well as a satisfying burn from the bitterness at the end. I definitely feel like it's missing something though and I don't blame Rogue, I blame myself for not living nearer to Rogue.

I really do love their stuff and I seriously dig their style but I fear that I may not be able to comprehend what they're really capable of until I see them in person. This isn't a bad beer and it's well worth the money but... It's like there's the ghost of the beer it used to be hanging over it.

Food Suggestion: Sounds like an odd suggestion but a bit of Welsh Rarebit would go down particularly well right now. Don't know what that is? It's a fancy ass cheese on toast with marmite.

Drink this if you like: The new Pale Ale Polaris by The Kernel, as previously alluded to, is somewhat similar but this has a bit more body and a bit more stodge.

Port Brewing - Hop-15 Ale

You just know it's going to be a good one, all the stars have aligned. It cost me more than £10 even with my discount, it's by Port Brewing (who can do no wrong) and it's one of the Port Brewing numbers that hasn't revolved around some sort of surfing pun or tidal theme. Don't get me wrong, the surf pun ones are brilliant, like Board Meeting and Shark Attack (not so much a pun, more a grim prediction,) but when they decide to name their beers after something else, that's when you know you've got something funky on your hands. This, for example, is called Hop-15 and on the label it has pictures of WW2 style bombers carpet bombing a pint with hop bombs. As far as imagery goes it's not the most subtle but it sure is informative. They don't make this very often and that's probably because they use ALL THE HOPS to make this beer, it takes up too much space so I guess they can only do it when they're ahead of schedule with production... And do you know any successful breweries who ever produce substantially more than is being sold?

This rich mahogany beauty pours softly with a head that creeps up on you before settling at a soft, cakey, finger of head with sticky speckling. It smells lightly of caramel and spices with a little pine, it's not overpowering as an aroma and it somewhat disguises that it's packing 10%.

What you get as far as taste goes is far more than I ever could have expected. You start off with a sweet malt with a smooth, velvety texture, a texture that reminds me of watching old adverts for milk chocolate. After that, though, you get all of the EVERYTHING, it's deep and interesting with herbs, citrus, spices, piney earthiness and a slight run of liquorice. It's smooth but it stings at the end, Hop-15 seems to be taking on some sort of delicious and extravagant roller coaster ride, which ends with me wanting to ride again and again until I vomit in a bush.

Beers like this, beers that have so many hops that are just slammed into a heavy beer, can be so immensely overpowering that your palate just doesn't have a chance to register everything. Not the case here, not the case at all. This is so wonderfully balanced that you are given the chance to enjoy what I suspect is Simcoe and Amarillo as well as (again what I suspect is) centennial, chinook and saaz (though I could be wrong,) on top of a whole bunch of other awesome hops. Sometimes it's nice to have your face blown clean off your skull by sheer hop fire power but the rest of the time it's a joy to truly enjoy beer. I'd say it's the difference between getting the hottest phaal at a curry house in Newcastle and getting a Madras from a Michelin star restaurant. This is the latter, this is Michelin star stuff... You know, if we simple beer folk had that kind of bollocks.

Food Suggestion: Cheese board AND a meat platter! Get on it!

Drink this if you like: Denogginizer by Drake's or any of the hench American Doubles by Green Flash.