Christina VarvisBrewery: Rogue Farms
Available at: Sherbrooke Liquor Store (11819 St. Albert Trail)
With the holiday season concluding and the school year rebooting, nothing’s better for students to cuddle up with then a big bottle series from their favourite brewery. I’ve picked Rogue Ales as my alcoholic amenity, a brewery founded in 1988 in Ashland, Oregon. Rogue is known for their fun-spirited craft ales, and have more recently expanded into craft spirits as well, though it would be hard to find any outside of the states.
OREgasmic Ale is a nondescript brown bottle adorned with a single pumped hand holding a bushel of hop grains. When poured, a caramel-coloured body accompanied by plenty of carbonation appears, called out by the almost soda-pop-like bubbles that cling to your glass. There’s little to no head when poured and an extremely murky colour, which I feel is an appropriate allegory for coming back to class.
I came into this expecting something creamy and almost chocolate-like, but was surprised to find this to be an American Pale Ale. Similar to the all popular India Pale Ale (IPA), an APA is generally light with some hoppy flavour but an easy-drinking experience all around. OREgasmic Ale holds true to this, with a crisp taste and a floral scent. To the nose, there is an almost citrusy-sweet tropical fruit smell. Though the ale itself tastes slightly fruity, it is by no means sweet. There are noticeable bitter hops, but remain very manageable. The beer’s bite comes in at the end, with a refreshing and clean ale taste.
OREgasmic Ale’s name is meant to highlight that all the ingredients used are grown in the brewery’s home state of Oregon, though it’s clear that Rogue Farms wants you to feel sexy while drinking this. Though this brew could be paired with nearly anything short of spicy food, I wouldn’t put this in my sexy alcohol category.
