Rogue Marionberry Braggot Review

Name: Rogue Marionberry Braggot
Style: Braggot
ABV: 11.42%

A couple weeks ago, I took a look at the Honey Queen Braggot from Sam Adams and found it to be quite tasty. Then a couple weeks ago, I found yet another Braggot-style, this time coming from Rogue Brewing (or Rogue Farms if you want to be technical about it.) For an obscure style, it's interesting to see a couple of big name craft brewers taking up the style.

I give to you Rogue Farms Marionberry Braggot. What's a marionbeery? It's essentially a blackberry that was originally bred by the USDA in....you guessed it........Oregon! The other thing noteworthy about this beer is that while the Sam Adams Braggot was 7.5%, Rogue decided to 1-Up them and make this 11.42%, which makes this the heaviest beer I've had from the brewery to date.

The beer pours a very dark plum color that borderlines into becoming black, which turns into a mahogany color when held up to a light. The head takes on a khaki color, but at the same time, fairly thin. There is some slight visible carbonation along the sides of the glass but really hard to tell the rest based on how dark it is.

The nose starts out with a distinct smokiness and honey sweetness. I'm also picking up on some dark fruity notes which I'm guessing is the marionberries. Interestingly enough, I'm getting some rye-like spiciness in the aroma too, which I did not expect to find here.

The flavor starts out very sweet with some prominent dark fruit notes paired with some floral hops. The backend of the taste finishes off with a strong honey sweetness paired with a mild rye-like spiciness. As for the aftertaste, it's a lingering honey sweetness paired with a distinct smokiness.

The body teeters between that of mild and moderate with a slight thickness. The carbonation is actually fairly light and it allows you to take in the flavors that this beer has to offer.

To say there is a lot going on the flavor would be an understatement! It's sweet, fruity,smoky and slightly spicy all at the same. What we have here is a unique, flavorful beer that is worth your attention. All I can say is that I hope that the Braggot-style itself gets more attention as time goes on; I really do!

Rogue Marionberry Braggot - 9.5/10