Name – Rogue John John Ale (Spruce Gin Barrel)
Country – United States
Type – Spiced Beer

Appearance – Poured a very hazy orangish color with a big white head.

Smell – Citrus like hops with a hint of juniper berries in there.

Taste – More of the citrus hops with a bit of a malt backing.  You can pick up the juniper again and bit of the spruce.

I was looking forward to this one when it was announce because gin is one of very few liquors I actually enjoy.  But I had no idea what to expect as I’ve never heard of a beer being aged in a gin barrel before.  Well luckily I didn’t have that high of hopes because I really got no hints of gin in the smell or taste.  You could probably make an argument that the juniper and slight spruce taste were from the gin but I don’t know.  I’ve had beers with those flavors before and they weren’t aged in gin barrels.  Definitely didn’t get any barrel taste to it.  I guess what we are left with here is the regular Rogue Juniper Pale Ale.  That’s pretty much what it tastes like to me.  While it was enjoyable as just a beer I am a little let down by the lack of gin presence considering the John John Dead Guy was very bourbon present.  Oh well I guess.

Overall Grade – C+