Part of this project called the Bitter Nib is re-visiting old beers, as much as trying out new ones. Very often I find myself looking at the old notes, taken before I started posting my reviews here, and find them satisfactory. Other times, such as today, I pass my eyes over them and find those notes lacking. Outdated. Not quite appropriate.
Today, I look at Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Ale with Natural Hazelnut Nectar, with fresh eyes. Let's do it:
Appearance: thoroughly hazed, caramel brown coloring, large and lasting cocoa/tan head.
Aroma: sweet malt notes first off, with nutty overtones. Quite nice.
Taste: Once on board the palate, it's sweet as she gets. Notes of molasses and brown sugar, dark malts of all stripe, drowned out by hazelnut nectar. Hop bitterness steps in to tamp down sweetness just a step, but it's large and in charge to be sure. Medium bodied, long, malty finish. A rich, tasty treat, but not one I'd reach for very often. A once in a while shot of decadence.
Here, for kicks, is the effusiveness I dropped on the internet back in April of 2004:
"Deeply, darkly, tawny brown color, with a smallish head, cocoa-tan hued...aroma: sweet, roasty, very malty, lush and chocolatey, nuts aplenty.
Taste: goodness! Ever-so sweet! Yum! No hops, huge, caramely malt, but full-on sweetness, thickly textured...wow, the high-concept is thrown in high-relief here, as I can think of no other expression so sure of this particular style, their aim is true, and they hit the mark perfectly. Hazelnut, yes, so rich, and thick, and an excellent dessert brew, something to adequately fill in for Frangelico, if the need arises.
They bring it on full-bore on this one, wow, it's a choice brew, indeed!
Hey, do a specially-flavored brew, do it all the way, that's what I say, and that's what Rogue does here!"
Did I ever love the exclamation points back then. I'm pretty much cured these days.
("choice brew", man, what was I thinking?)
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