Saturday, December 8, 2007

'Tis The Season To Drink Beer

Many breweries produce a special holiday brew in spirit of the season. The Rogue brewery of Newport, Oregon, creates Santa's Private Reserve to commemorate the Christmas season. This brown bottle features a festive red, white, and black label with a cartoon Santa raising a glass as if to say “cheers.” Or maybe that's “ho ho ho.”

Santa's Private Reserve is an American amber ale with brewmaster John Maier's trademark top-fermented Pacman yeast. An abundance of Chinook and Centennial hops are used, which give this brew a pronounced aroma and added bitterness. There's also a mystery hop added, which Maier calls the 'Rudolph' hop. The brew pours a deep reddish translucent color and features a thick off-white foamy head that leaves considerable traces around the glass. The flavor hints of herbal, smoky tones with a touch of citrus and molasses. The beer leaves a hoppy pine taste lingering on the back of the mouth. It has a heavy body which is very complex, with 6% alcohol. Rouge prides themselves in producing brews that have no chemicals, additives or preservatives, creating a nice clean taste.

The Rogue Santa's Private Reserve Ale is available in limited edition silk screened 12-ounce and 22-ounce bottles during the winter months. If eggnog doesn't float your boat but you want to feel festive with your booze, you can raise a glass of this Rogue beer, just like Santa.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The 22oz. bombers also glow in the dark! Tim

Anonymous said...

Rouge?!?

Regardless how you spell it, they put out some fine beers.

Cheers

Anonymous said...

I was in McNellie's last night - and they didn't have it in yet. I'll keep checking.

PremiumBitter said...

This is a decent beer.

The bottles are not very sturdy, I had one explode on me when I tried to reuse it!