Chatoe Rogue OREgasmic Ale
October 7th, 2010 beckelToday I had the pleasure of checking out the newest liquor store in the 612, Lake Wine & Spirits. Conveniently located on Grand & Lake Street which happens to be within a mile of my humble abode. Overall the store was clean and well stocked for being only a week old. A solid selection of wine, liquor and most importantly beer was present and reasonably organized. I’m sure I will rant more about them in the future but right now I have a beer to drink.
While there I picked up four out of the five beers in the Chatoe Rogue series of Rogue beers. All of which are GYO certified and brewed with 100% Oregon ingredients, many of which are grown by Rogue Brewing and being labeled as First Growth. Currently I am enjoying the third beer in the series entitled OREgasmic Ale. Brewed with First Growth Dare & Risk malts, Williamette, Sterling & First Growth Revolution hops and Rogue’s favorite yeast; Pacman. (Note: Rogue is one of the best breweries about listing their ingredients but I must note in this case the bottle I have and their website do not list the hops identically, oh well.)
Pours a lovely hazy, completely opaque orangish brown hue. About two fingers of very tight, creamy, tan bubbles are created and remain for almost five minutes. Leaving a good deal of residual head quite a bit of lacing for Pale Ale. Sincerely surprising me that there is no wheat in this ale as the head retention is simply amazing. Aroma is fantastically hoppy with notes of orange and lemon citrus, gentle herbal hops, fruity esters and wonderful caramel malt esters and soft bitterness. Flavor is full of rich sweet malt, mellow orange & other citrus esters, finishing with modest hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is very smooth and creamy and body is medium. As I continue to drink I notice more and more grassy hop flavors, particularly lingering on the palate after consumption. Some of which might have to do with the freshness of the hops. As the beer warms the creamy malty sweetness becomes more and more apparent and the citrus hop esters continue to compliment the sweetness even more wonderfully. If Rogue were to make caramel candies with citrus and bitter esters similar to this brew they may be on to something amazing. Over all a very delicious brew that I would happily consume often. A bit too sweet for me to drink all night, though certainly doable with a reasonable 6% ABV. If you enjoy Pale Ales and are looking for more than just hops this ale will be right up your alley. I think even those who are less in love with hops will enjoy the creamy caramel character that this ale brings to surface in a truly fantastic way. If you want more classic Pale Ale characteristics consume this ale colder, if looking for more malt give it a bit more time to warm up. Better yet consume it slowly and enjoy it in all of its glory. After this brew I am very excited to try the rest of the series. Give it a shot and ride your bike.