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I just want start by saying I am still shocked at the Phillies bringing back Cliff Lee and snubbing the Yankees.  This is a dream come true.  Okay back to beer shall we.

It’s far from a little known secret that Rogue has been letting me down lately.  The XS series has not really lived up to the hype or the price tag.  So you may ask why I haven’t just given up on them.

Rogue still makes some good beers.  Dead Guy is still one of my favorite session beers.  I really enjoy the Chocolate Stout and Shakespeare Stout.  And Captain Sig’s Northwestern Ale is everything I want in a red ale.  So I hold out hope on them.  And with that hope I made a big decision to try the newest beer in one of the big ceramic bottles.

Rogue 21 is dedicated to the 21st Anniversary of Rogue brewing beers for the Oregon Brewers Festival.  It is an old ale and said to be good now or to age.  I’ve decided to go with the now and see how it is.

I poured it into my brand spanking new New Belgium glass and the liquid laid in the glass a murky deep red color.  It had a good sized sandy head but it didn’t really leave any lacing on the glass.

The nose was big in dark fruit with some hints of brown sugar in there.  I also pick up a bit of an alcohol burn as well.

The first think I notice about the taste is it’s very earthy flavor.  It is followed by more dark fruit flavors before it gets earthy again.  Some bitterness and some smokey qualities to it.

The earthy and smokey notes throw me off a bit on this one.  I’m not use to tastes like those in an old ale.

Okay so you are going to ask was the $16 worth it for this beer right?  I would say not right now.  But I believe this beer is better suited for aging.  At 8% ABV it isn’t a big old ale but I think 1-2 years on it would make a world of difference.  I can see those earthy characters going away and the dark fruit coming forward more.  So if you have the cash (or credit) to pick one up now and save for later I think it might work.

Grade - B-

Name

Patton Oswalt has a great bit where he talks about celebrating birthdays.  He doesn’t believe you should get to celebrate every birthday because not every age has some milestone.  But he does say you get to celebrate for the years between 1 and 10.  And Patton is a wise man so I take what he says quite seriously.  So with that in mind I have decided to celebrate with someone that is celebrating one of those said birthdays and that is one of my favorite breweries, The Bruery.

This year is the Bruery’s second birthday, so by Oswalt standards they can celebrate.  But you see the Bruery is the one giving the gifts instead of receiving them.  And this year they have gifted us with Coton.

Last year for their first birthday the young brewery brewed an old ale called Papier.  And this year they brewed the same recipe again but to make it different they blended it with some of the Papier that had been aging in bourbon barrels for the last year.  And they intend on doing this each year with brewing a new batch and blending it with the previous year aged in barrels.  So in theory getting a blended vertical each year.  Pretty cool huh?

Well let’s get down to the real reason for this article, Coton.

I poured it into my ever awesome Bruery tulip glass and it came out of the bottle a very dark red color.  There are some brown aspects to it but it is most certainly red.  The head is a sandy colored tan that didn’t stick around all that long.

Oh man there is so much going on in the nose here.  The first thing I pick up is raisins but there is also a strong vanilla presence as well.  You can find some oaky qualities but it doesn’t stand out that strongly.  Oh and you can definitely pick up the sweetness and booze of the bourbon in here.  While not overpowering it is present enough to remind you that it is there.

The first sip is incredible!  Everything from the nose is here in the taste.  Your raisins and other dark fruits blend beautifully with the oakiness that is more present in the taste than it was in the nose.  Sweet vanilla and bourbon give it a nice backing that doesn’t punch you in the face with booze but gives a nice warming effect.  I sometime forgot that this is a 14% beer.

So again the Bruery makes a beer to be proud of.  I’m so glad I have a second bottle of this that I intend on cellaring away for a while.  Hopefully I can fight the urge to have it again soon.

Happy Birthday Bruery!  Thank you for the awesome gift of Coton.  Keep doing what you guys do so well.

Grade – A

Appearance – Poured a deep brown color with some rub red highlights around the edges of the glass.  Very minimal head on it.

Smell – Sweet smells of caramel and toffee with some roasted malts in there.

Taste – More of the caramel and buttery toffee mixes with a nutty flavor very well.  A bit of an alcohol bite at the end but it is nothing bad at all.

I really like Great Divide.  Between Hercules, Titan and Yeti they are all some of my favorites in their particular categories.  They don’t let me down with this one either.  While it is not the best old ale ever it is a pretty good one.  I’m glad I picked it up before it is gone for the year.

Overall Grade – B+