Rogue XS Russian Imperial Stout
2 Mar
Name – Rogue XS Russian Imperial Stout
Country – United States
Type – Russian Imperial Stout
Appearance – Pours an ink black color with a big brown head that goes down rather quickly.
Smell – Citrusy hops? Yes I am getting hops here. A subdued bit of roasted malts and coffee.
Taste – Wow the hops really hit you on this. Wasn’t expecting that at all. They are quite bitter and earthy. There is some coffee and chocolate qualities but the bittering of the hops just sticks with you.
Rogue has moved to 7 oz bottles for their XS series and will be doing the rest of their bombers in these bottles as well soon. It’s nice because those ceramic bottles of the XS series are just so expensive. I picked these up at Total Wine in Pembroke Pines. I still have yet to see them closer to my house. Two bottles were needed to adequately fill my glass. The hops are very strong in this one. It reminded me of Storm King but the balance just wasn’t there. The bottle does say age for one year so I might have to try that and see if the hop profile dies down.
Overall Grade – C-
I have a bottle of this in the fridge, ill have to take a try….I didnt expect hops from this, NOW IM EXCITED!
I didn’t expect it either. I really don’t ever expect hops in a RIS.
This is becoming my problem with Rogue. They make some great brews like Dead Guy and Double Dead Guy, and my understanding is their John John Is great, but Hops dominate just about all their brews. It’s like they can’t get away from them. Now I love hops, don’t get me wrong, but when a brewery just continually has Hops as a dominant part of their flavor profile they get a little one dimensional. I’m afraid that is what is happening at Rogue.
I feel kind of the same way Don. They are very hit or miss for me. I either really like something from them or I don’t like it at all. Dead Guy, Double Dead Guy, Captain Sig’s, Shakesphere and Mocha Porter are all awesome but I was not a fan of the Soba Ale, Chipotle Ale and the summer wheat one they did. I will always drink them and be a fan but there have been some disappointments.
Agreed! They are often too hoppy or bitter. Like you said, age it for a while and see what happens. I’ve got a two year old bottle of their XS Imperial Stout that I’m still waiting on.
I just had this one on Sunday and I must say I was very underwhelmed. The prominent flavor I got was “burnt, burnt, burnt.” It was good looking, and good smelling, but the flavor fell flat on it’s face IMO.
Check out my review at Beer Epiphany.
Keep up the good work! Cheers.
I almost bought one last night, but just couldn’t. Rogue is very hit or miss, and I’m careful with my beer budget. i like the marketing of the small bottles, though. Reminds me of Little Kings!
@James – Thanks for stopping by. I’m glad I’m not the only one that thought there was something off about this. I’m thinking about picking up one just to age it out a year, since the bottle says to do so.
@Nate – If you do jump at getting it I would say age it to have the hoppy taste die down.