Chipotle Ale - Rogue Ales

So it turns out the LCBO at Queen King and Spadina has a passionate beer guy on staff, who works hard to bring in an extra cool beer selection, in addition to the regular beers.  He has just recently brought cases of a few of the amazing brews from Rogue, including this Chipotle Ale.  There's not much of them left, so get there asap, unless you're headed to Oregon sometime soon.  Pepper ales are a style that has a small but dedicated following of both producers and consumers, particularly in the USA.  They range from fairly tame, to hot-sauce level hot.  I'm interested to see how the bottle from Rogue goes.

[caption id="attachment_1906" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Chipotle Ale - Rogue Ales"][/caption]

From a classic silk-screened Rogue 650ml bomber, the Chipotle Ale  pours a slightly hazy copper-brown, with about half an inch of head that dissipated pretty quickly.  Aroma is very malty, nearly hints of caramel, with some fresh peppery notes.  Some herbal hops are present too, though you've got to look for them.  Taste is a big malty amber ale, with a herbal/mineral hop to it.  At first, you've really got to think about the pepper to pick it up, but as you drink it, more comes out.  By the end of the bottle, it was the prominent taste.  Not at all "hot" or "spicy", just a nice peppery, leafy taste.  Some smoke, and actually, a little heat is coming in, but it's more of an aftertaste.  A little tingle that stays on your tongue and the back of your throat.  Light to medium bodied, with a decent carbonation, it holds it's complexity well, without being heavy on the tongue.  It's an interesting beer, and could do very well with some Mexican food, or perhaps something North African.  Actually, if it weren't cost-prohibitive, Chipotle Ale could be great to cook with.  I probably wouldn't drink more than one in a sitting though.  Still a very cool beer, and worth picking a few up.

Cheers Rogue!

Tagged: Ale, Oregon, Pepper Ale, Rogue Ales, Usa, Vegetable Beer