Spirits

[Dan Hocker]

Dan: I like Rogue, generally, but do not find them worth the price a lot of the time, that said my biggest displeasure with them is the extreme hopping they love to do. Every now and again that's fine, but not all the time. This being a Kolsch is less likely to suffer from that so I will keep my eyes open for it to show up on the market here. Had a great lime Kolsch the other day, it was US brewer but I can't recall the name.

That's a problem a lot of craft breweries suffer from. Though not everyone sees it as a problem. I think it's probably over compensation for a complete lack of hops in the big brand beers. I actually like hoppy beers, (depending on the hop variety used), but I can only really drink maybe 1 or 2 of them at a time before I need to switch it up.

This Kolsch on the other hand isn't strongly hopped at all. It's what I would call "crushable". The hop yard honey adds a very subtle complexity to it that I really like. I can't remember what the pricing on it was though.

[Theli]

You're definitely right, but I think Rogue was one of the worse ones for it. They had like 10 different IPA or more. Brewers are starting to move away from that style, or at least expand. The last couple years IPAs were the great new thing, now it seems microbreweries are willing to branch out more. More gose and sours have been popping up I've noticed, plus more traditional style beers with new twists (like Rogue's Sriracha stout for example).

I'm also glad to see more saisons/farmhouse ales this year, a favourite of mine. Got a smokey pumpkin saison in my fridge waiting for me right now.

[TacomaDiver]

Craft brewers definitely love their hoppy IPAs. West Coast IPAs blow the East Coast IPAs out of the water when it comes to hoppiness too (wow, this sounds like rap all of a sudden - west side!)

I love hoppy IPAs, but like Dan said, after a couple, I need a break.

Nowadays, brewers seem to be experimenting a whole lot more which is awesome. So many options to try and not enough time (or like me who decides to stop drinking beer, go to the gym, and find my running shape again.)

Theli - my favorite pumpkin used to be what Elysian of Seattle brewed, but they sold out to InBev, so I refuse to drink any more of their stuff. Now my favorite is from either Dogfish Head or Southern Tier. That's partially why I wanted to make my own pumpkin eventually, and this year it finally happened.

[Dan Hocker]

Craft brewers definitely love their hoppy IPAs. West Coast IPAs blow the East Coast IPAs out of the water when it comes to hoppiness too (wow, this sounds like rap all of a sudden - west side!)

I love hoppy IPAs, but like Dan said, after a couple, I need a break.

Nowadays, brewers seem to be experimenting a whole lot more which is awesome. So many options to try and not enough time (or like me who decides to stop drinking beer, go to the gym, and find my running shape again.)

Theli - my favorite pumpkin used to be what Elysian of Seattle brewed, but they sold out to InBev, so I refuse to drink any more of their stuff. Now my favorite is from either Dogfish Head or Southern Tier. That's partially why I wanted to make my own pumpkin eventually, and this year it finally happened.

I think Dogfish Head's 60 Minute IPA is my favorite. There's some really good East Coast IPA, it's just most of them don't have very large distribution, so it's hard to find them outside of the surrounding states they are produced in. This area in particular is very good for craft beers. Maryland, Deleware, and Pennsylvania produce some of my all time favorite beers across all spectrums of styles.

[Martin]

Here's another one, though this one isn't a Spirit, it's a beer (also not my picture, mine are all in the recycling bin). If you like beer try and find this, it's probably my new favorite. As a beer enthusiast who likes many different kinds I find this subtly complex and highly enjoyable. It's made with honey from bee's who pollinate Rouge's hop farm. It's really maybe the best beer I've every had. It's so good it inspired me to brew a Honey Kolsch of my own this past weekend and I can't wait to drink it.

I am a big fan of Rogue but have not seen this one. I will have to look for it.

Rogue does some really good stuff, my personal favorite is the Dead Guy Ale. They also have some misses like the Voodoo Doughnut line. They also make some decent spirits and some stuff that is so strange I have not tried it:
Dead Guy.pngVoodoo_Mango_Astronaut_750ml.pngdead_guy_whiskey.pngSriracha_Stout.pngchipotle_whiskey.png

[Theli]

I had no idea that Rogue had made some whiskies, very interesting. Wasn't huge on their Voodoo doughnut (had the lemon cruller), Dead Guy Ale I liked well enough, but not blown away either.

[Dan Hocker]

Dogfish Head also makes some liquor. Mostly Vodka, Gin, and Rum I believe, but I remember them being pretty good though.

[Martin]

Dogfish Head also makes some liquor. Mostly Vodka, Gin, and Rum I believe, but I remember them being pretty good though.

Rogue has several Whiskeys, a few Gins as well as Rum and Vodka. I have only tasted the Whiskeys though. They also have a few sodas that I have not tasted. Being a relatively local company they have a lot of offerings available around here.

[Dan Hocker]

Rogue has several Whiskeys, a few Gins as well as Rum and Vodka. I have only tasted the Whiskeys though. They also have a few sodas that I have not tasted. Being a relatively local company they have a lot of offerings available around here.

Yea I don't think they have distribution on the east coast. My guess is it's the same for the Dogfish spirits out west. In fact I'm not entirely sure I can get the Dogfish stuff here and I only live like 2 hours from the brewery.

[TacomaDiver]

I've tried a few of the Rogue Voodoo offerings - definitely a miss.

I really enjoy their Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout - my GF really loved it so it served as inspiration to the oatmeal stout I brewed for her.

[Theli]

This is my what my whiskey cabinet looks like right now:





Just cracked into the Glen Moray port finished Scotch today, admittedly my sense of taste and smell is off a bit right now due to a cold, but it was pretty enjoyable. A noticeable port smell, but only the slightest hint in the flavour, generally pretty smooth, at least no specific strong offensive flavours, but it tasted a bit young. Could have mellowed a bit more. That said I will try it again when I am now longer sick.

[bugen]

Oh yeah, that's a nice collection of whiskey. A bunch in there that I haven't tried but you've also got some of my favorites.

[Theli]

I think my favourites right now are the Penderyn Legend, Gibson's 18 year, The Black Grouse and Bulleit Bourbon (the regular batch, not the 10 year shown here, though it too is quite nice.). All of which have a unique flavour to themselves.

In general I think I have come around to Scotch (and the Penderyn is very Scotch-like in flavour, like a more complex Glenmorangie) more than some other whiskies that may have been more instantly pleasing. I still like the variety, as you can tell from the above selection, but I find myself reaching for my different bottles of Scotch more often recently.

[Dan Hocker]

I have a bottle of that Bulleit Burbon 10 year as well. The Rye is also really good.

[Theli]

Working on finishing off a few bottles before splurging on new stuff (hard as it is, I like to experiment). So I finished of Bulleit 10 Year reserve. Damn good bottle, definitely a strong rye presence in the flavor... with it gone though it left a hole in the bourbon selection, tried out Knob Creek 9 year small batch. Not blowing me away, seems to lack some subtlety, which I pick up more in the Bulleits. Definitely oaky, and a bit sweet, strong burn. Might try it with a bit of water just to temper the alcoholic burn a bit.