Santa's Private Reserve Ale - Rogue Ales

BeerAdvocate

Massachusetts

4.1/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Review from Inaugural Issue of Beeradvocate Magazine.

Rogue's annual holiday brew, an American Winter Warmer that's not spiced, but hopped old-school, with plenty of Chinook and Centennial hops. This year's packaging boasts snowflakes that glisten on the painted label. Um. OK. That's nice. Moving on ...

Tawny color glows in the light; the killer froth leaves big, sticky rings of lace after each sip. Huge cookie and caramel aroma, then slightly piney, spicy and citric from the hops' very aromatic. Rogue-style all the way, clean yeast leaves the malt and hops to duke it out. Rich, malty fl avor gives suggestion of caramel and cake batter with an undertone of dark bread. Hops wield bitterness to balance, with lots of fl avor on top of that. Citric, pine, spruce and deep herbal fl avors come to mind.

By far one of the best winter seasonals around. An easy-drinking, warming and flavorful ale that runs through hop fields with a tasty maltiness by its side, and weird glistening snowflakes illuminating the skies above.

Serving type: bottle

07-23-2008 20:15:42 | More by BeerAdvocate

Jason

Massachusetts

4.38/5  rDev +15.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A most excellent looking head, the hops are an obvious help in this department. Clear brownish copper color shimmers warm in the light. Nutty bready sweet malt, softly pungent hop oil infiltrates the nose with rind, wild flowers and citrus zest. So smooth, nice crisp bite towards the end. Body is creamy and of a solid medium size. Level carbonation. Citric hop and a nougat flavor up front on the taste buds. Waves of malt sweetness are white capped with a strong grasping hop bitterness. Both the hop bitterness and malt sweetness, even the residuals, don’t want to let go. The hops are more persistent and seem to cover more ground with layers of flavor.

As always in Rogue fashion there is no holding back on the hops, certainly enough malt flavor to go around. This one is a must for me each year.

Serving type: bottle

01-05-2008 04:20:59 | More by Jason

Todd

Massachusetts

3.78/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Presentation: 750ml brown bomber with a painted label -- Santa with a mug and a raised fist. No freshness date.

Appearance: Brown with red-ish wood stain hues. Nice fluffy off-white head that sticks and stays. This is an unfiltered ale, so allow it to rest before serving.

Smell: Quite malty with mellow notes of prune and raisin, and alcohol.

Taste: Sweet, rich, full-bodied mellow maltiness with a buttery caramel character (diacetly), juicy fruitiness and breadiness. Goes crisp and dry with definite Munich malt characters, then raw, woody andcoarse with Chinook hops. A sugary candy-like sweetness appears towards the finish and rides along a tea-like flavour until the end.

Notes: Rogue's annual holiday offering, Santa's Private Reserve, is a variation of the classic Saint Rogue Red, but with double the hops--including Chinook, and Centennial, and a mystery hop called Rudolph by head brewer John "more hops" Maier! This holiday elixir is brewed with two-row Harrington, Klages and Munich malts, along with Hugh Baird 30-37, Carastan 13-17, and Crystal 70-80 malts, plus free range coastal water and John's proprietary top-fermenting Pacman yeast. Available in both 22-ounce bottles and on draft. Measurements: 13 degrees Plato, IBU 60, Apparent attenuation 73.1, Lovibond 26.75.

A wonderful winter seasonal to warm the brain. Hop character is very Rogue, very Pacific Northwest in its unbalanced hops, however this is still a very tasty brew.

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2002 10:24:07 | More by Todd

jkane101

New Jersey

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

05-18-2013 22:19:01 | More by jkane101

Zimm

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +5.5%

05-15-2013 17:20:49 | More by Zimm

twenty5

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

05-15-2013 17:18:41 | More by twenty5

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

05-15-2013 11:23:43 | More by Slatetank

Artjsantos

Ohio

3/5  rDev -20.8%

05-10-2013 17:38:28 | More by Artjsantos

ajtorres311

Florida

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

05-10-2013 16:49:51 | More by ajtorres311

tommyguz

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

05-09-2013 02:15:40 | More by tommyguz

TheBeerAlmanac

Kentucky

3.25/5  rDev -14.2%

04-28-2013 23:42:41 | More by TheBeerAlmanac

DaPan

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +5.5%

04-13-2013 21:20:11 | More by DaPan

orangesol

Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -14.2%

04-11-2013 03:19:23 | More by orangesol

vidguy17

Iowa

3.25/5  rDev -14.2%

03-30-2013 14:57:12 | More by vidguy17

zestd

Idaho

4.5/5  rDev +18.7%

03-29-2013 20:47:48 | More by zestd

Jamison85

Indiana

4.5/5  rDev +18.7%

03-27-2013 05:53:14 | More by Jamison85

alelover

Michigan

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

03-26-2013 04:09:33 | More by alelover

brheuer

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +5.5%

03-25-2013 00:09:17 | More by brheuer

spycow

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

03-08-2013 01:06:45 | More by spycow

hannaho

Washington

4/5  rDev +5.5%

03-07-2013 19:59:44 | More by hannaho

screamking

Ohio

3.86/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 4

22 oz bomber poured into wine glass.

Appearance-pours red-brown with 1 finger light khaki head. Decent lacing around the edges. 4

Aroma-Very sweet smelling beer. Strong brown sugar with hints of citrus throughout, orange, grapefruit, and apricot. Vanilla is very prevalent as well. Aroma on this is delightful 4.25

Taste-The sweetness from the aroma continues in the mouth. A lot of brown sugar up front, also vanilla and maple syrup. Im also getting some black pepper towards the middle. After the sweetness fades the bitterness comes in strong and lasts. 3.75

Feel-medium body, coats palate well, abv is only 6% but it feels stronger. 3.25

Overall-I'm actually surprised how much I like this. I've never been to big of a Rogue fan, but this beer is by far the best that I've had from them. It is perfect for cold winter nights. The bitterness in this one is a little too much at the end but the sweetness up front makes up for it. 4

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2013 03:35:33 | More by screamking

ChiefHopHead

Texas

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

03-05-2013 02:20:27 | More by ChiefHopHead

RumHam

Virginia

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

03-05-2013 01:15:59 | More by RumHam

pottergator

New York

4/5  rDev +5.5%

03-03-2013 21:20:31 | More by pottergator

Kelp

New Hampshire

3.25/5  rDev -14.2%

03-03-2013 07:26:40 | More by Kelp