KOTBR Review #10 - Rogue's Dead Guy Ale

In tribute to the President Gerald Ford, Karl Stauss (brewer of PBR), and the Godfather of Soul - James Brown, all of who had passed away in the previous week, the Knights of the Beer Roundtable gathered at Deano's last Thursday to review - appropriately enough - Rogue's Dead Guy Ale.

We warmed up with a Bell's Double Cream Stout, a beer out of Michigan, in honor of the 38th POTUS. Our plan was to then follow-up with a PBR off the retro-menu, but Deano's was out (we'll get to that later). And, unfortunately, there isn't a beer brewed in NYC on the menu.

Deano's staff must have been mourning the loss of the three legends, because they were off their game. Nick, the Bartender, was gone for the night or something, so I'll blame the dirty deed on that fact. We have chosen Deano's primarily for its atmosphere, meaning a bartender that takes care of you, shoots the breeze with you, and makes the joint lively. With Nick gone, so was the atmosphere. I guess next time, we'll just call ahead to make sure our favorite bartender is working.

After leaving Deano's after only one warm-up and the reviewed beer, Jason, Jim and I headed to MacNiven's for some Manna from Heaven, more commonly known as Hopslam on tap. Very nice. Even better on tap than from the bottle (who's surprised by that?).

And on our way back to our 'hood, Jason and I got real brave. We've heard some buzz about the new beer cave at the Rural Inn Liquor Store, located on the southwest corner of the interesection of Rural & Michigan on the near-eastside. Keep in mind that one of the new cop sonor monitoring devices is located directly across the street from the Rural Inn, and we were pulling up around 12:30 AM. We were somewhat timid, but the lure of good beer close to Irvington made us brave, like good Knights are. And lo and behold, our bravery was rewarded. The owner's claim to have the best selection of micro and imported beers inside the 465 Loop is accurate. We both chose a 4 pack of Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA, for a mere $6.99. So let me recommend the Rural Inn, though I may also recommend going during the daylight hours.

Now on to the reviews . . .

JASON: This week, the pearly gates of heaven welcomed some incredible spirits, including President Ford, James Brown, and former Pabst brewmaster Karl Strauss. Our hope coming into the latest gathering of the knights was to theme our drinking around the memory of these fine individuals. Some PBR to start, then something from Michigan , finished with a New York brew.

Well, the plan didn’t reach full fruition. Deano’s Vino was uncharacteristically off last night, in that they were out of several beers on their menu (including PBR) and they had a pinch-hitter behind the bar that wasn’t very attentive (I only consumed two beers and not because I was the DD). While one bad visit won’t ruin Deano’s for me forever, it did make for a difficult drinking environment.

We adjusted our plans and found a beer that seemed appropriate for our desired theme: Rogue’s Dead Guy Ale. Deano’s stocked it in 12 oz. bottles. This maibock pours with a light, creamy head and has a copper color to it. It is a bit cloudy, allowing some light to come through. There wasn’t a strong aroma to DGA; it is very mellow, maybe slightly sweet. It does not put on a false façade as it tastes just like it looks: creamy, mellow, with a medium malt. There was a surprise, though. As I went along, there was a slight hoppy bite in the back of my mouth at the finish of a drink. Surprising and pleasant. The DGA left a creamy yet cleansing feel in the mouth. No strong, unpleasant aftertaste.

Rogue’s Dead Guy Ale is a great beer. You think it will be a standard red along the lines of Killian’s, and you discover that it is creamier, maltier, and more flavorful than you expect. Simplistically complex. Much like the men we were honoring that night. Much like death itself.

Shit, that’s too deep. I need another beer.

Rating: 3.5 mugs

JIM: I’m old enough to remember Chevy Chase’s clever portrayal of President Ford in the very early days of Saturday Night Live. Yes, Chevy Chase was actually funny at one point in time, and yes, I am that old. On the show, Chase would appear in no make up and effect no voice impression of the president. Rather he would simply enter the set and take an awful pratfall. In fact, legend has it that Chase became addicted to painkillers because of doing the Ford bit once too often. The purpose of Chase’s pratfalling was to poke fun at President Ford’s propensity for taking a tumble. Ford once famously fell down the steps of Air Force One while visiting Austria.

So that brings us to Deano’s for our review of Rogue’s Dead Guy Ale. As Jason mentioned, we decided to review Dead Guy in honor of . . . well, all of the famous guys who died recently. And, as Jason also mentioned, Deano’s was having an off night. The restaurant fell, so to speak. But instead of a purposeful fall, like Chevy Chase taking a dive through a break-apart desk, I think Deano’s fall was a pure accident, like President Ford’s mishaps. So I expect our next visit to go more smoothly.

To the beer – As I mentioned in my last review, I wasn’t too impressed with Rogue’s products until reviewing Santa’s Private Reserve. Dead Guy Ale boosted Rogue’s reputation further in my eyes. Dead Guy is a quality ale. Oddly, it has very little nose. This was the first time, in fact, that I was hard-pressed to describe the nose. As for the color, I can’t describe it because our bartender neglected to bring me a glass for the beer, and she was so inattentive to us that I never bothered to ask for one. The flavor, however, I can describe as very pleasant. This is a malty beer with caramel notes. It has a small amount of hoppy bite, but the bite is note prevalent. Dead Guy goes down very smoothly and isn’t filling at all.

My rating: 3.5 mugs.

CHRIS: I've long been a fan of the Dead Guy Ale, a german-style maibock. It was the first beer from Rogue that I had tried, and it kept me coming back to try others.

It has a copper/amberish color, and it gives great head. Uh, wait. I mean it's head is good. Uh. Shit, you know what I mean.

I couldn't pick out much of an aroma, but I also perpetually have problems with that. I can't fault the beer for that.

It's medium-bodied, I would say, and has a well-preserved flavor balance of malts and hops - a little more malty than hoppy, but not overly so. Again, a good balance. We've been heavy on hoppy beers lately, so it was nice to back to one with some malts. It leaves a good malty after-taste, but nothing overpowering.

It's not my favorite beer in the world, but it is a good beer. I go along with the 3.5 Mugs.

Renee - I didn’t note my warm up beer except that it was a delicious, heavy Belgian ale pretty much the only thing they had on the list. However, my real surprise was when it was my turn for the Rogue’s, they were out! As any gracious knight would do, Jason offered me a taste of his. Since then, feeling a need to actually, you know, drink the beer before I rate it, I’ve since had the Rogue’s and like it! This dark amber brew gave a smooth, mellow nose over a creamy head. The taste? Smooth, nutty, not sweet but not overly hoppy either. Nice work for a Dead Guy! Hail James Brown! Hail Gerald Ford! 3 mugs

KOTBR Review #9: Rogue's Santa's Private Reserve Ale

OK, it's pretty much official. Deano's has become the official watering hole of the Hoosier Beer Geek and the Knights of the Beer Roundtable. We feel completely at home. We like it. We love it. We want some more of it. Now, I will still buy my six packs at The Hop Shop. And I'm waiting on Courtney to invite us to belly-up to the tasting bar one night, and when he does, we'll sure go. But until then, I think our reviews will be coming to you from Deano's.

Now that's out of the way.

We met up last week to do our first annual Holiday Review. We say "holiday" because we had also planned on some Hanukkah beers from Schmaltz, but, alas, Nick the Bartender was out. So we just stuck with a Christmas beer - Rogue's Santa's Private Reserve Ale.

We also were joined for the first time by Braingirl (not sure she want's me to use her real name or not). She is the newest KOTBR, and she fits right in to our ecclectic group of drunks.

Chris: I was going to try to keep with recent HBG tradition, and write my review in the tune of a Christmas Carol. But I'm just not feeling all that creative. Deal.

I had warmed up on some Bell's Double Cream Stout. All I have to say is "YUM!" My kind of beer! Nick has it on draft right now, and I'm trying to be responsible for helping him to replace it. But this dark brown glass of joy got me in the Christmas mood, and by the time Braingirl joined us, I was ready to launch into our feature - Santa's Private Reserve Ale from Rogue.

Santa, when poured, had a brownish-amber color, a nice tan head, and made me think of chestnuts over open fires and a partridge in a pear tree. On a side note, I have a pear tree in my front yard, and I have never once seen a partridge in it. Hmmmm.

The nose was a little difficult for me to discern because I was still tasting the Stout. But I was able to pick out some gingerbread, maybe, and a good balance of hops. And I know this sounds crazy, but it smelled a little bit like a Christmas tree. Maybe that was just psychological.

It had a full-bodied taste, definitely had some hops to it, but not overwhelming. This was a well-balanced beer. I think I picked out a pinch of nutmeg, a little bit malty, but the beer was definitely moist. It wasn't overly carbonated, but it wasn't dull, either. It - as I'm learning with many good beers - gets better the closer to room temperature it gets.

All in all, it was a pretty good beer. Not my favorite, but pretty good. I'm giving it 3.75 Mugs.

Braingirl: Warm-up Beer: Bell's Winter White Ale. And what a perfect warm-up beer itwas. Perfect for the evening and also for my introduction to Chris and Jim!Thanks for the warm -- and tasty welcome. Now I just have to get over myintroduction to Humphrey the Humping Dog. It was the most traumatic part ofmy KOTBR initiation.

Back to the Bell's: This full tasty brew in the Belgian style was just upmy alley. I've outgrown a bit the full, sweet German style hefe-weissens,but love the smoothness of beers like this one. Not overly bitter or heavy,but not too light either. A clean taste unburdened by sticky, sweet ortangy wheatbeer goo.

And the main event: Santa's Private Reserve from Rogue Ale. Like Jim (orsomeone said), this was the first Rogue Beer I've had that I actually liked. I guess I'm just not cool enough to be a fan of the Pacific Northwestmicrobrew style with it's hallmark hoppy/bitter beers, but this one workedbecause of the toasted grains with enough body to hold it together. Perfectfor winter, this dark amber-colored brew started hoppy with what tasted likeflat-out burned grains to me, but mellowed as it warmed up a bit. A fewdegrees above frosty cold and it was a nice, comfortable winter drinker.And I, too, was a nice comfortable winter drinker. I give it 3.5 Mugs.

Jim: The Knights were back together at our home sweet home, Deano’s Vino, on the night before Chanukah (or Hanukkah or Hanukah or however you prefer to spell it) to do our first holiday themed review. Unfortunately, Jason was out sick, and Kelly was at Deano’s for dinner with friends but couldn’t join us for the review. But Chris and I were happy to be joined by new Roundtable member, Braingirl, who was able to add her own unique epicurean flair to our get-together.

We initially planned to review a Chanukah beer from Shmaltz Brewing Co., which is the purveyor of the He’Brew label. However, upon arrival at Deano’s, our trusty bartender, Nick, informed me that he was out of He’Brew. Nick couldn’t say why he ran out, but I’m pretty sure I know what happened. Rumor has it that Mel “Sugart*ts” Gibson is a secret fan of He’Brew Messiah Bold Ale and stopped by Deano’s on his way to that kooky Holocaust deniers conference in Iran to pick up the last six-pack of Messiah Bold. So that means that Knights are left to review He’Brew’s fine products for another time.

Not one to be disappointed by the He’Brew buzzkill, I started off the night with a warm-up with a local brew: Barley Island’s Barfly IPA. This well-balanced IPA was the first beer that I’ve ever tried from the Noblesville brewery, and I wasn’t disappointed. Since Braingirl did not join Chris and me until an hour after we arrived, Chris and I decided to go with a second warm-up. I chose the beer that Chris started with: Bell’s Double Cream Stout, which is a seasonal from Bell’s offered during the winter months. It’s a smooth, dry stout with a bit of a chocolaty taste. It went down just as easily as the Barfly IPA.

Once Braingirl arrived, we wasted no time getting to the feature beer – Rogue Ale’s Santa’s Private Reserve. I was a bit wary of this beer before we tried it because I’ve not had good experiences with Rogue products. On one previous occasion, I tried Rogue’s Chocolate Stout and American Amber. Once was enough for me. But the Santa’s Private Reserve was impressive stuff. The color of this beer was a deep brownish-red. The nose conjured up images of gingerbread cookies, which is not surprising considering that this is a Christmas beer. The flavor was gingerbread-like as well, and the finish was very dry and hoppy. I found this to be a good beer to hold in my mouth for a few seconds rather than swallow right away because of the pleasant taste.

In short, Rogue Ales has redeemed itself in my eyes with this beer. Four mugs easily!