REVIEW: Rogue HazelNut Brown Nectar. Delectable.
By Captain Beer on Oct 29, 2007 in Brew Reviews
Hello, dear beer friends! Except for Tony. Tony, I’ll get you back. Mark my words you jackass… I will get… you… back…
Anyway! I first found myself finding myself drinking this awesome beer about 2 weeks hence at a small bar (like really small… 1 bar with 8 or 9 seats, one small round table with 2) in Alexandria, VA where I grew up (it makes the original, Egyptian Alexandria look like Harrisburg, PA, by the way–Booya) called Bilbo Baggins. I know, I know… the speed of light is 186,000 feet per second… I know.
Anyway… READ ON… I WILL get to the beer…
OK… so… Bilbo Baggins while small in size–like, say, a pheasant–makes up for its diminutive-ness by having an AMAZING selection of brew on tap. Like… beers I’ve NEVER seen on tap anywhere else. But this is a beer review, not a beer purveyor review, so movin’ on:
Rogue always scores. Their beers are quite often some of the best offerings in each brew category that I’ve ever had. Their pale ales hang with Stone’s… their iconic Dead Guy Ale is rich, malty and awesome, their wheats are treats (I hate myself now) and their seasonals… reasonable…ly good… anyway, then, 2 weeks ago… I tried the HazelNut [sic] Brown Nectar.
Think of it like this: take any good English-style brown ale you’ve ever had and thoroughly enjoyed (and we’re thinking Samuel Smith’s or Youngs, not Newcastle, even though I like Newcastle very much, it’s not what you generally want to think of as illustrative of a genuine “brown ale”)… think of that rich, malty, roasty flavor. Then add a delicious twist of hazel nut. It’s like a rich, semi-sweet, nutty, slightly coffee/slightly chocolaty embrace has wrapped itself around a rich, malty beer.
The low hop presence–33 IBUs, or International Bittering Units Futbol Association of Mexico–lets the malty goodness roll. The good folks at Rogue claim there are 7 different malt strains and 2 varieties of hops. While they once made up an elaborate and pathetic lie just to get in front of me in line for a movie, this time I’m inclined to believe them. And DAMN… a unique and tasty brau*.
*(Remember, we’re humoring the H.o.B. folks and pretending “brau” means “beer.” It actually translates from the German to mean something like “racket ball.”)
Sounds like fine drank. I generally think of hazelnut as a coffee additive, but then again I once put pina-colada mix in coffee because the milk had gone bad and I thought it would taste good. Great move, d!psh!t.
BTW, the only Rogue I haven’t really loved so far was their Chipotle. Just… didn’t work for me. Too spicy.
BTW, BTW stands for By The Way.
Kolonel Tripel | Oct 29, 2007 | Reply
Yeh, the “spicy” beers usually miss the mark. Beer can be enriched by a lot of things and a lot of flavors. Like… man, oh so much… but peppery brau? Nah dude… nah. That’s for clydes.
Captain Beer | Oct 30, 2007 | Reply
My issue with a lot of Rogue beers is these “experiments” are sooo expensive. The Chipotle goes for like $7 at the supermarket. It’s good, but it ain’t no Chimay Reserveeeve. ve`. Owh hawh-hawh (perfect French). Whatever. Happy Halloween. I’m drinking soco and watching Mythbusters. And eating Nerds. Ah, Nerds. The pain when they get stuck in your teeth is offset by an insurmountable, albeit brief, sugar high.
Oh, and Captain, you forgot to leave out that the General should never end his night with a pour of Eggenberg Pilsner after having a few Hazelnut Browns. Ever. I was bouncing on either side of the sidewalk like a bowling ball that has those bouncer things used for six-year-olds at the bowling alley.
What was I talking about again? Oh, yeah. That beer was tasty.
General German | Oct 31, 2007 | Reply