4. Rogue Cap’n Sig’s Northwestern Ale

Situated in Newport on the coast of Oregon, Rogue is a longstanding favorite brewery—during college in the early ’90s I regularly drank duece dueces of Rogue bought at the local 7-11. Yes, I was that type of college student.

Capt’n Sig’s Northwestern Ale, named for the captain of Deadliest Catch and dedicated to the Hansen brothers, has a bit of a bready nose with not much hop aroma. The lacy tan head matches the dark brown color; while there are slightly reddish hints as well, it is still slighty darker than many ales out there. It has a rich creamy mouthfeel that is at the same time both dry and slightly bitter. The slight malt opening with only light sweetness moves into a big hop body in the middle of the beer—hoppiness is very prominent, but not overbearing, with pleasant bitterness and a slight tartness to balance it out. The beer finishes dry with a light roasted flavor that is tart, a little astringent, and has a few tannic notes. The overall bitterness drops off slighty about half way through the bottle, giving way to a well balanced roasted maltiness. Captain Sig’s also gets maltier as it warms, giving off roasty and slight alcohol notes that round out the beer better than the initial couple of sips, having some of the characteristics of a Scottish ale at this point. Overall, very enjoyable beer—big, but well balanced, and exceedingly interesting.

From Rogue’s website: “Tasting Notes: Deep red in color, this ale starts off with a floral, slightly citrus hop nose, hop flavor soon fades into the malty backbone of this red ale.”

Ingredients:
Malts: 2-Row Pale, Munich, Carastan and Chocolate.
Hops: Amarillo and Cascade.
Yeast & Water: Rogue’s Pacman Yeast & Free Range Coastal Water.

ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 80
OG: 14.5º P

(7/4/2009)