Rogue – HazelNut Brown Nectar
Date: Monday, January 24, 2011
Brewery: Rogue
Beer: HazelNut Brown Nectar
Category: American Brown Ale
ABV: 6.22%
Brewed in: USA
Rogue HazelNut Brown Nectar (aka Bald Guy Brown) pours a hazy brown and develops a one finger foamy tan head. Retention was noticeably short and lacing was absent.
The aroma is dominated by hazelnut and general “nutiness”. I pick up on a mild chocolate smell and a bit of brown sugar which is likely the sweetness from the malts coming through. It is not a very complex nose but it is well balanced.
The taste echoes the aroma and is also dominated by hazelnut with an understated chocolate flavor. The beer is very sweet (maybe too sweet for some tastes?). The taste is great but the sheer power of the hazelnut is distracting and makes isolating other flavors difficult. I found as the beer warmed slightly that the hazelnut became less overpowering. At this point the beer was revealed to have a definite quality brown ale base.
The mouthfeel is creamy but with high carbonation. When holding the beer in the mouth longer to pick up on the flavors you get a pretty tingly tongue.
This was a fairly one-dimensional beer albeit a very enjoyable one.
Rating:
beerisseur 