Rogue Monk Seal Ale

Rogue Monk Seal Ale

Where purchased: Tamura’s Fine Wine and Liquor

Cost: $6.79/About 7 bucks

ABV: -

Size: 22oz

There's something about drinking beer for a good cause.  A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Rogue Monk Sea Ale goes towards the Waikiki Aquarium and its mission to increase appreciation and understanding of Pacific Marine Life.  If I could, I would drink ten of these to help out the marine animals around here.  

The Rogue Monk Sea Ale has a malty nose on it similar to Rogue's Dead Guy Ale.  At certain points, this beer smells a bit like some of the maltier home brews that I make.  The flavor of the beer is primarily malty up front, but is not as sweet as Rogue's Dead Guy.  The bitterness present counteracts any sweetness, and is fairly noticeable in the mid palette to the back of the tongue.  What I noticed most about the bitterness was that there were no strong hop flavors or aroma.  This would be a great beer for those who like malty, bitter beers, but don't like any of the flavors of aromas of hops.  I would have to guess that Rogue threw in the Perle and Sterling hops early during the brewing process to extract the bitterness without getting too much aroma or flavor from the hops.  

Overall, I felt that this was a clean and sessionable beer.  

Memorial Day Weekend 2014

I had these grandiose plans to try a lot of different beers this weekend, take good notes, and have lots of content to post to this blog throughout the week.  Yeah...  Well, I did only one of these things - I tried a variety of beers, but didn't take the time to note my thoughts on how the beers tasted.

You see, my weekend was full of commitments.  I didn't have free time to drink these beers quietly in my home.  On Friday, I stopped at the Restaurant Row in Honolulu to meet my wife's friends for Happy Hour.  While there, I tried Goose Island's limited edition Endless IPA.  

Goose Island Endless IPA

I detected notes of citrus on the nose, but the hops flavor present on the beer leaned towards a little bit of pine to me.  I would definitely be willing to give this beer another try for an appropriate review later on.  

On Saturday night, I went to Doraku Sushi on Kapiolani for a wedding celebration.  The food was great, and the selection of beer was better than I expected.  I started the night with a Kirin Ichiban macrobrew, but moved on to drinking a Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Echigo Koshihikari, and the Echigo Stout.   

Doraku Sushi on Kapiolani

On Sunday, we had dinner plans at a friend's house.  I brought the beers below for a mini beer tasting.  I enjoyed each and every one of these beers.  We progressed from the Amber Ales up to the IPAs.  Of the beers we drank that night, I really enjoyed the Deschutes Armory XPA, and the Islander IPA by Coronado.  I really didn't take the time to note my thoughts down on these beers, so I'll have to do a proper review on each of these beers at a later time.

The selection of beers from Sunday night

Rogue Chipotle Ale

Rogue Chipotle Ale

Where purchased: Tamura’s Fine Wine and Liquor

Cost: About 7 Bucks

ABV: 5.5% according to Beer Advocate

Size: 22oz

I watch a lot of beer brewing videos, and I’ve seen a lot of folks attempt to make beer with roasted or smoked peppers.  I’ve always wondered how a beer with pepper would taste.  Let me just say that I was pleasantly surprised.  

The beer starts off with a nose alternating between sweet maltiness, and smokiness.  The malt smell is similar to the malt in Rogue’s Dead Guy Ale.  Then all at once, the smokiness prevails.  The flavors also hit in a similar way.  At the front of the tongue, I detected a slightly sweet maltiness, then as the beer washes over the center and the back of the mouth the smokiness is present.  I’m not sure if it was a hint of spiciness, but the carbonation on this beer seems vigorous and refreshing.  As I said, I was pleasantly surprised, and very happy with this beer.  I’d like to purchase a few more bottles to taste with friends.

Rogue Dead Guy Ale

Rogue Dead Guy Ale

Where purchased: The Row Bar at Restaurant Row

Cost: $4 during Happy Hour

ABV: 6.5% according to Beer Advocate

Size: 12oz

I remember drinking this beer for the first time about 10 years ago.  At that time, I couldn’t really appreciate the bitterness, nuances, and flavors of craft beers.  Consequently, at that time, I felt that this beer was a bit too strong and full bodied for my tastes.  I was after all, drinking mostly the standard supermarket macrobrews back in the day.

The Dead Guy Ale was available at happy hour last night, and I decided to give it another go.  As it turns out, this is a fantastic beer in all it’s malty goodness.  A slightly sweet maltiness washes over the front of your palette while the bitterness from the hops takes over in the mid palette.  The bitterness present wasn’t up to the same level as say an IPA, but it was there.  Overall, I felt that this was a well balanced beer, that didn’t overwhelm my senses or taste buds.  I will definitely be on the lookout for more Dead Guy Ales in the future.  It’s no wonder that this beer has been around for so long.  It’s just a great beer.

Big Island Brewhaus Overboard IPA

Big Island Brewhaus Overboard IPA

Where purchased: Tamura’s Fine Wine and Liquor

Cost: About 8 bucks/$7.99 or so

ABV: 6.9%

Size: 22oz

The first time that I tried this beer, I had been bar hopping in Waikiki with my friend.  We encountered this beer at the last stop of our bar hopping adventure.  I was blown away by how good the beer tasted.  The beer was malty with a ton of citrus hop flavor on the back of the tongue.  But, as I mentioned, we had been bar hopping, so I had to be sure.  I recently bought this at the store, and this beer did not let me down.  It was just as good as I remembered it to be.  

I should mention that I prefer beers hopped with citrus flavors as opposed to floral notes.  This beer is right up my alley.

Deschutes Pine Mountain Pilsner

Deschutes Pine Mountain Pilsner

Where purchased: Tamura’s Fine Wine and Liquor

Cost: About 4 bucks

ABV: 5.2%

Size: 22oz

I've been buying Deschutes beers for the past couple of years.  I usually find myself buying the Black Butte Porter, Inversion IPA, or the Obsidian Stout.  They are all wonderful beers.  Recently my local beer store started to carry varieties of Deschutes that I haven't seen before.  The Deschutes Mountain Pilsner was one of those new beers that I haven't seen locally available before.

The Deschutes Pine Mountain Pilsner is a lighter beer in color and in flavor from the other Deschutes beers that I've tasted. Well, it is a Pilsner after all. I detected a bit more bitterness from the beer, than say a standard American Bud/Miller/Coors type of beer. I noted a woodsy and earthy flavor to the beer, and dare I say a little bit of pine? Maybe not, it might just be the label influencing me. I did also detect some earthiness on the nose as well.  Overall the beer was refreshing, especially in this warmer weather.  

Beer Brewing

Provided below are links to posts about beer brewing and home brewing.

There are no posts about brewing at this time.

Beer Reviews

Provided below are a listing of the beers that I've written about on this site.

Big Island Brewhaus Overboard IPA
Coronado Brewing & Cigar City Brewing Jurata Baltic Porter
Coronado Brewing Islander IPA
Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA
Deschutes Hop in the Dark C.D.A.
Deschutes Pine Mountain Pilsner
Rogue Chipotle Ale
Rogue Dead Guy Ale
Rogue Mom Hefeweizen
Rogue Monk Seal Ale
Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout
Samuel Adams Rebel IPA
Widmer Alchemy Ale
Wyld Extra Pale Ale
Youngs Double Chocolate Stout