Sunday, January 27, 2008

Rogue: Mocha Porter


I like beer. I like chocolate. I like coffee. When you mix coffee and chocolate you get mocha. And when you mix mocha and a dark strong lager, you get pure deliciousness. Enter: Rogue's Mocha Porter.

Rogue is another brewery I'm sure you're all familiar with. They are from Orgeon, and along with Red Hook, Pyramid, and Deschuttes they are helping to establish a formidable Pac Northwest brewing tradition. They are best known for their "Rogue Dead Guy" ale, but to date their Mocha Porter is my new favorite. In fact I'd go so far as to say it's the best west coast dark beer I've ever had, period.

The beer isn't all that heavy, but it's got extremely full flavor. It's a very malty beer, with distinct coffee notes and a lingering hint of chocolate. It's almost the perfect balance of sweet and bitter. The hops are initially overpowered by the dark malts, but a hint of hoppiness comes through at the end to cleanse the palate a bit. Overall a very pleasant drink: very full and satisfying flavors but a very mild aftertaste; none of that tongue-coating effect you get sometimes with thick, dark beers.

Don't know what else to say about this one then to try it yourself. And I can finally rest assured knowing that when I come back West, there will be at least one grade A porter waiting for me.

4 comments:

Mattie said...

You may be surprised to hear that Rogue has it's own bar in Northbeach. All they have are Rogue Ales on tap. I think 10 brews last time I was there. Now there's something to look forward to.

Hof said...

Hells Yeah!!!

Mattie said...

You must mean Kells yeah!!
(Their Irish Style Lager)

Maxwell said...

Also important to note that one of my HS buddies uses Rogue beer exclusively as his lucky charm during poker games. It doesn't seem to work, but I think even a good beer can't make a bad poker player better.