Rogue Santa's Private Res.

[Wilson]

I ran into some of these at my beer store the other day, thought I would try some. Overall it seemed pretty good. It had a tan to creamy head, wasnt very clear, and had a nice malty/spicey smell. The big thing I noticed was that the more I drank of it, the more bitter it seemed to get. Maybe this was the result of the beer warming a bit? Are there any other thoughts about it? They basically gave a flavor/ingredient guide on the side of the bottle. Overall a pretty nice beer.

[sallad]

i had this recently.. if i recall, i thought the hop bitterness was rather mellow, but noted. a big malty flavor - lots of munich malts! - and full body that really stood out. i usually like hoppier beers (IPAs, ESBs, etc) but i really loved the malt character on this one.

[chazwicke]

I usually prefer hops as well but I look forward to having the one in my fridge.

[Tweek]

so far this is the winner for me of all the seasonals I have had this year. though I have a few more to taste still

[Fast_Eddy]

I really enjoyed this one too.

[newportstorm]

Rogue's most recent newsletter states that this year's batch was really hopped up. Nearly 3 times the hops of St Rogue Red. They say the IBUs are somewhere in the 60s and not the 40s as stated on the bottle. Just letting you know what to expect from this year's batch of Santa, if you haven't had the pleasure of finding any.

Cheers!

[Tweek]

their website states that there is a mystery hop in addition to chinook and centennial. Any guesses?

[tavernjef]

Rogue Santa's Private Reserve is a damn fine brew, here are some of my notes from a recent bomber emptied by yours truely:

Has a super deep darkened amber color with an overall reddish tone with a evenly thick medium sized tannish head, lots O' bubbles at first, popping down to a creamy top that slowly dwindles down to a mixed thin & thick puffy haze and collar ring that stays the entire glass down. Tons of sticky moth-holed sheets of lace.
Smell has a terrific caramel sweet malty aroma with some grassy hop notes.
Taste comes across completely different from what the smell gives way to. A dry mild roasty feel and flavor lays immediately across the palate dropping notes of burnt buttered toast and caramel drizzled biscuits. Hops are super dry and leafy with a pine wood dryness and quick dry wood bittering that fades into the finish leaving hints of caramel and cocoa. But overall, quite dry and woodish. Feel is close to full with a nice textured carbonation and a nice hoppy drying finish.

Rogue has keeper with this holiday brew!

A hopped up amber with a overall toasted dryness, good stuff!

[steveh]

Caramel drizzled biscuits? ;)

Jef - don't go recycling your BA reviews over here man, come up with some new adjectives just for us! Just kidding - all's fair in good info on new beer for us.

I've noticed that Rogue's Santa is in my corner paint store, I'm going to have to grab a bottle this weekend. But what do I try first - the Rogue, or the 3 Floyd's Alpha Claus? Santa, or Alpha? :O

S.

[tavernjef]

Originally posted by steveh
Caramel drizzled biscuits? ;)

Jef - don't go recycling your BA reviews over here man, come up with some new adjectives just for us! Just kidding - all's fair in good info on new beer for us.

I've noticed that Rogue's Santa is in my corner paint store, I'm going to have to grab a bottle this weekend. But what do I try first - the Rogue, or the 3 Floyd's Alpha Claus? Santa, or Alpha? :O

S.

Thought I'd throw in what I believe to be nice way to talk about the beers by using my reviews that are hand written first then posted on lots of different beer sites, BA being the best and my favorite - and I haven't been doing much here so I thought it'd be a nice gesture on my part to give my $.02 worth from a beer I recently enjoyed. If its frowned upon I won't do it again...


But... since I haven't had the Alpha, I'd go with that! Heard good things about it.

[steveh]

Originally posted by tavernjef
If its frowned upon I won't do it again...

Not in the least, just giving you a hard time in fun! Sorry if I didn't make that as clear as I thought I had - all info and reports are welcome and appreciated.

S.

Still, caramel drizzled biscuits? ;)

[tavernjef]

Originally posted by steveh

Still, caramel drizzled biscuits? ;)

Not an overall of the beer, but a note of something similar to what I thought seemed like biscuits with caramel on top.
Overall the beer is woody and dryish with that of biscuit & burnt toast-like touches...
Good complexity that Santa's Reserve!

[BluesHarp]

caramel biscuits.......Great...now I'm hungry as well as thirsty! :D

[BluesHarp]

caramel biscuits.......Great...now I'm hungry as well as thirsty! :D

[skahtboi]

Nearly two months after Christmas, and I still have one of these sitting in my beverage fridge.

[fretlessman71]

I still have a bunch of spiced beer that I was saving for a trade with b3s, who seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth... wish I was as lucky as you.

[chazwicke]

What happened to b3s? I traded with him. and enjoyed his posts too.

[Tweek]

yeah I miss b3s he is a good guy. hope he is ok.