Rogue XS Imperial Stout

First published in BEER January 2008 as part of a piece about imperial stouts. For more imperial stouts see previous post.

ABV:  11 per cent
Origin: Newport, Oregon, USA
Website www.rogueales.com

Rogue XS Imperial Stout

Founded in 1988, Rogue are now a mainstay of the craft brewing hotbed of the Pacific Northwest and among the handful of small US brewers whose products regularly pop up on British shelves. XS Stout first appeared in 1994 and has since won multiple awards at home. It’s a typically robust and characterful bottle conditioned beer made from a complex mash of seven malts including chocolate and Munich, with rolled oats, Cascade, Willamette and Chinook hops and two secret ingredients.

A black and viscous beer that leaves iodine-like traces on the side of the glass, it pours with a notably dark head and an inky dark fruit, gravy and chocolate aroma. The palate is surprisingly light-textured but bursting with vine fruits, Marmitey malt and drying burry hops. Chocolate and roast come to the fore in a very long finish that turns dry with vegetal resins.

Since I bought my mature tasting sample – the brewery recommends keeping for at least a year – the stout has been relaunched as one of a series of XS beers packed in stylish black ceramic swing-stoppered bottles. Don’t be deterred – although it betrays the American fondness for hops, it’s much less “extreme” than some of its compatriots and stays well within the parameters of the time-honoured Courage style. Albert Le Coq himself would have been proud.

Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/rogue-imperial-stout/5266/