Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Lemon Chiffon Crueller Ale

The Stats
Style: Fruit/Vegetable Beer
ABV: 6.90%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.34/5
- RateBeer: 3.02/5

Here is another entry into the Rogue/Voodoo Doughnut series. I wasn't to fond of the last offering by this team, but hey, you never know when something will unexpectedly please you. This beast combines the crueller, one of the more ridiculed doughnuts of our time, and fluffy, lemon-flavored chiffon. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts (hold your applause) that we aren't looking at genuine lemon here, but I'm willing to find out.

Pours a pretty-looking hazy orange reminiscent of quality IPA's. Produced about two fingers of an off-white, yellowish head.

I must admit the aroma is intriguing. The best thing I can compare it to is lemonade slush or Italian Ice. It's almost Shandy-like. On top of that is a buttery breadiness and a biscuit-esque quality. Honestly, to the beer's credit, if I had to imagine a liquified, lemon-filled doughnut, then this would be it.

I mentioned how the aroma reminded me of a lemon Shandy and it follows through on the taste. If you've had the Leinenkugel Summer Shandy, then this will be familiar, but noticeably sweeter. I guess the sweetness comes from the sugared crueller component, but it does add a certain depth (albeit slight) to this novelty of a beer. It finishes with nothing unpleasant, but the aftertaste does contain some generic macro beers flavors comparable to Coors Light or Bud Light.

Considering this is chock-full-of artificial lemons and sugary sweetness, it is not cloying at all. While slightly more full-bodied than your average lemon-flavored ale, it is slightly thin, but by no means watery. The generic, adjunct of a macro lager threw a wrench into this, but the beer was not hard to finish at all.

I went into this a hater, but it turned out to be not that bad. Is that really a compliment? Ehhhh, not really, but I will say this delivers exactly what it promises. It is a sweet, but not too sugary lemon ale and it didn't promise to be anything else. Yeah, yeah, there's no genuine flavors or any hint of a hop presence, but that's not why you buy this beer. This series is all about experimentation and finding the right combination of obscurity and while I would not go as far to call this a "Must Have" any day of the week, I did find myself enjoying this for what it was.

Rating
6.8/10

Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Pretzel, Raspberry & Chocolate Ale

The Stats
Style: American Brown Ale
ABV: 5.40%
Current Beer Advocate Rating: 3.48/5

Another entry in the collaboration series between Rogue Ales and Voodoo Doughnut brings us their Pretzel, Raspberry & Chocolate Ale. This is a Brown Ale brewed with pretzels and "natural flavors", which usually means non-authentic, but we won't know until we dive into it.

Pours a dark, dark brown bordering on black. Almost an amber/copper/brown color. I got about four fingers of head and then I had to let it settle down before pouring any more. For so much head, it leaves zero lacing.

The raspberries are at the forefront of the aroma. It doesn't smell like genuine raspberries either. Also getting a slight nutty flavor. I don't get a lot of chocolate, it's almost the ghost of any chocolate that may have previously resided in the recipe.

The taste is...interesting. How to best describe it? Hmmmmmm. As a kid going to the supermarket and on the way out you pass the candy machines. One of them was the hard, fruit-shaped candies of bananas, strawberries, grapes, and other fruit flavors. This is basically the beer version of that. That being said, while I do get the fake flavor of the raspberry, in general, I don't get anything else at all. No chocolate, no pretzel, and just a microscopic presence of raspberry. The beer itself is quite thin despite it's dark appearance with significant carbonation. I mean, for all of the flavors promised, they just aren't there. The pseudo sweetness that is present clings to the back of your tongue on the finish and has you exclaiming "blech!"

Pretzel? No. Chocolate? No. Raspberry? Barely. At the end of the day, the Pretzel, Raspberry & Chocolate Ale by Rogue is a mug full of nothing. Granted, it's not repulsive and worthy of a drain pour, but I would never describe it anywhere close to good. The flavors are non-existent and the ones that do show up to the party are about as authentic as a Ryan Braun urine test. Again, not cringe-worthy, but not worth your time either.

Rating
4.9/10