Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale Review

Name: Rogue Voodoo Bacon Maple Ale
Style: Smoked Beer/Rauchbier
ABV: 6.5%

Last year, Rogue Ales started doing collaborations with Portland-Based Voodoo Doughnuts to bring about some rather....interesting beers. For starters, in an attempt to draw attention,the bottle itself is  a Pepto-Bismol Pink and you can tell it was sprayed on because there's some pink opacity (fading away for you non-Photoshop users) near the mouth of the bottle.

The second thing you'll notice is the flavor: Maple Syrup & Bacon. Now I'm no stranger to Smoked/Rauchbiers in general and I'm familiar with the bonfire/smoked bacon flavor that comes along with it but this is supposedly made with actual bacon. I've actually had a maple-bacon donut before (not from Rogue) and found it to be rather good but that may just be my own messed-up palate.

So Bacon and Beer together at last, two of my favorite things in one package, there is no possible way this could suck.....

'Merica!!

The beer pours a dark hazy brown color with a pretty foamy head. The amount of carbonation is pretty mild and the lacing retention here is pretty lacking.

The nose smells like a Perkins Breakfast Platter....No seriously, it's like they took the Perkins 55 Plus Breakfast menu and made a beer from it! I'm getting some bacon, maple syrup, some yeastiness that may as well be pancakes and a very light hoppiness.

The flavor thankfully remembers that it's still a smoked beer.....sort of. To start, it's got a smoked/sweet malty backbone, bacon and and a very sweet maple syrup taste. There's also some slight oakiness to the flavor as well as some bready/yeastiness. I still say it tastes like breakfast!

The body is moderate in weight with some pretty light carbonation. It's got a fairly creamy mouthfeel so it's a pretty easy beer to drink.

I love Rauchbiers & Smoked Beers but this really didn't cut it for me. It's a bit too sweet for this style of beer and there are cheaper alternatives of the same style that taste so much better than this.

Rogue Voodoo Bacon Maple Ale - 6/10

Surly Smoke Review

Tonight I've decided to review Smoke, a Baltic Porter/Smoked Beer from Surly Brewing, whom I mentioned in a previous review is like our equivalent of Three Floyds in Indiana. I figured I would review this since this is one of the more spotty releases from Surly (Behind Darkness, Syx and Pentagram of course.)

Smoke pours a pitch black color with a brown head and some mild lacing. It does have a mild brown tinge towards the bottom when held up to a light.

The aroma is a smooth mixture of oak, smoked ham, chocolate, cocoa and roasted malts. Not as powerful as say....Schlenkerla.

The same can also be said about the flavor with it's smooth combination of smoked ham, oak, chocolate and roasted malts. The aftertaste is a bitter combination of hoppy & smoke.

The palate is pretty heavy for a smoked beer. The carbonation starts out moderate but tappers off into a mild feel. Overall texture of the beer is somewhat smooth and allows for easier drinking.

This isn't as smokey or rich as other smoked beers I have tried, but the flavor is very balanced which helps create a easy drinking experience. Check this one out if you get the chance!

Surly Smoke - 8.5/10