Morimoto Soba Ale - Rogue Ales

timbro81

Oklahoma

3.53/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a barely hazy light orange. No head at all with decent carbonation. Smells citrusy with a light nuttiness. A lot of stuff going on in this light beer. Initially pretty light but then a sort of orange zest and nuttiness, almost sherrylike, develops. Tucked in there throughout is a small layer of citrusy hops. The aftertaste is a little short lived. A wonderful medium bodied session ale. A good "gateway beer" for the BMC crowd

Serving type: bottle

01-07-2008 04:23:17 | More by timbro81

Hollenbeck2

Oregon

4/5  rDev +12.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

another 20 ounce bottle purchase and offering from rogue brewery on the oregon coast, good beer, not their best but they have so many it is a tough crowd, good taste, smooth for a hoppy pale ale.

would recommend to try along with some of their other pale ales to compare, good beer to go along with food and maybe a tasting of the varieties that rogue offers.

Serving type: bottle

01-01-2008 22:19:39 | More by Hollenbeck2

dmamiano

West Virginia

2.15/5  rDev -39.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Beer poured a decent, medium amber in color...hazy with a nice head. Lacing lasted a while.
Smell was sour. I actually couldn t get a handle on it. Sour, rotten fruit maybe.
Taste was also very weird. Sour once again was the overwhelming sense. Really couldnt distuinguish and malt or hops....
I am hoping this beer was old...surely this isnt the way it was supposed to be.

Serving type: on-tap

12-20-2007 23:48:03 | More by dmamiano

mikesgroove

South Carolina

3.65/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This one ws rather intresting. Poured a nice, buttad hazy light brown with a touch of amber to it. Nice two finger head of creamy off white lace formed on top and this was quickly settled down and replaced by a thin layer of lace ontop and adequate side glass lace. A very nice carbonation profile was visible. Smell was light. I picked up some rice, and what almost seemed like a blueberry aroma, although I could not really place exactly what it was. The tase was kinda odd to in that it was trying to be a light lager but came of a little sweet with a big rice flavor. Overall this was intresting although not my favorite roge I have tried it definitly wasnt bad. I would pick one up again in a pinch but wouldnt really seek one out.

Serving type: bottle

11-09-2007 14:17:36 | More by mikesgroove

abcsofbeer

Virginia

2.78/5  rDev -21.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a cloudy, pale amber color topped by a light and white head. There is a good amount of carbonation with lots of bubbles rising to the top of the glass. The head falls to a thin crown and leaves little lace. The aroma is nutty and lightly hoppy, with some buttery scotch smell to it.

The taste has a mild malt flavor and hints of fruit with a light body and dry mouthfeel.

Serving type: bottle

10-27-2007 23:36:34 | More by abcsofbeer

ttu94

Texas

2.15/5  rDev -39.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Always open to something new, but what is this?
It looks good in the glass a hazing orange with a nice white head. The smell is off. Very vegetabel nose to it. Honestly I don't know what the hell a soba ale is but I know this smell can not be the inteded outcome of a good beer. Very buttery taste if you like land o lakes this is for you. What are they trying for here? at $4.50 a bottle I feel like I've been had. This simply is not a good beer whatever the style. As Ungespundet would say "this beer has obvious flaws". I just say it sucks.

Serving type: bottle

10-22-2007 04:51:12 | More by ttu94

evilbeefchan

California

3.73/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A - Poured a cloudy amber with little head.
S - Right away I get a whiff of apricots and dried tangerines.
T - Very refreshing on the palate, with very subtle lingering hints of dried apricots. Not noticing any bitterness, whatsover. Actually tastes like apple juice mixed with light beer. Went very well with some beef yakisoba, as a hint of bitterness with the carbonation cuts through the oil.
M - Very clean finish, the bitter apricot action hits at the end. Carbonation does actually help break through oily foods such as tempura.
D - By itself, the beer feels incomplete. It's lacking any bitterness whatsover, feels more like drinking soda but with the warming alcohol rush. Goes pretty well with food, however. I'd only recommend splitting the cost with a friend. as the price/drinkability ratio is really off for me.

Serving type: bottle

10-20-2007 04:33:34 | More by evilbeefchan

Floydster

California

2.1/5  rDev -41%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

22 ounce bottle from BevMo in Torrance

Poured into my Stone pint glass with a golden color, more orange than yellow

1/4 inch white head that left some lacing but disapperared fairly quickly

Smell was a little nutty with some fruit I could not really distinguish, not much of an overall smell

Taste was way too sweet and did not have enough hops to battle with the excess of malt, bitter in the wrong way, and hard to get down

Could not drink more than one bottle of this, way too fruity and not a light taste

I love Rogue beers, but this and their Chipotle Ale are the worst of theirs I have had, this was a disappointment because the Black Morimoto Ale was not that bad

Not really worth trying unless you were curious like me, but for five dollars, you can find much better bombers out there, like the other one I drank tonight: Moylan's Hopsickle

Serving type: bottle

10-15-2007 03:04:09 | More by Floydster

2wheeledpirate

West Virginia

3.8/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a light brown/orange. I honestly don't remember the head or retention. The nose is light and fruity. Carbonation gave way to a medium to heavy mouthfeel and body. They describe the taste as "nutty" but I felt it presnets as almost "buttery". This followed all the way through to a velvety smooth finish. Very easy to drink and went great with unagi and spicy tuna rolls (sushi).

Serving type: bottle

10-05-2007 21:52:10 | More by 2wheeledpirate

JBogan

Nevada

3.55/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a medium to slightly bright golden color from a 22 oz bottle. The Morimoto had a fairly thick 2 finger creamy head which left a good amount of lacing on the sides of my glass.

This beer had a slightly hoppy aroma with subtle fruit background.

Very understated tastes going on here, nothing overwhelming but a nice mixture. Perhaps a bit fruity with a minor nut finish.

Very good mouthfeel, thanks to a fair amount of carbonation yet very smooth.

I felt this was a very drinkable beer, something I'd return to again. I've enjoyed most offerings from Rogue but for some reason had been putting off trying this one. I'm sorry I waited.

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2007 00:01:05 | More by JBogan

Overlord

California

2.28/5  rDev -36%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

I've always found it strange that my local Bevmo selection of Rogue beers are typically picked over, but there's always about forty of these bad boys taking up about one quarter of the Rogue section. Now I see why.

Pours a deep, golden color. Not a bad looking beer. About a half inch head, decent mouthfeel and carbonation. Clearly it's well conditioned.

The problem is the mixture of tastes. What is this trying to be? A blonde ale with spices, a lager-esque ale, I just don't know. Weird spices, a strange rice after-taste, the malt tastes funky (I don't think the beer had gone bad, or I wouldn't have reviewed it) ... this is just unpleasant. I swear there is garlic salt and chili powder mixed into this.

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2007 07:15:24 | More by Overlord