Name: Brutal Bitter

Brewer: Rogue

Style: ESB (Extra Special Bitter)

Vintage: 2007

Cellared On: June 29th, 2007

Original Tasting: July 3rd, 2007

Very flavorful, hoppy brew with a hint of sweetness too it. Definitely doesn’t live up to it’s name, it’s almost mellow. Nice clean finish.

Other then the hops, other flavors that have been noticed are grapefruit and other citrus fruit, butterscotch, and caramel overtones.

Darren says: This beer should hit you in the face more with that kind of name. Enjoyable throughout, nice start with a good finish.

Six Month Tasting: December 23, 2007

This beer is holding up surprisingly well. It pours a dark rusty orange in color with carbonation that is fairly muted. Only a very small head formed, and even that disappeared fairly quickly. There’s still a beautiful hoppy smell to this brew.

Bitter, almost citrusy hops still dominate this beer. It’s not an overwhelming bitterness, but very well balanced, and about right at the same level that I remember from the first tasting. There’s a little bit of underlying caramel sweetness that help round this beer out. I do get the slightest touch of an “old hop” oxidized flavor, but at this point I think it’s a plus, adding a bit of complexity to the brew.  No change in mouthfeel. The beer finishes quick, with sweet malt and bitter hops lingering.  Very enjoyable to drink!

Is this beer bottle conditioned? I didn’t think so, but now I’m not sure. I say this because I noticed a bit of sediment at the bottom of my glass. I don’t really remember that being there the first time I tried this beer. I’ll have to keep a watch out whenever I pop one of these in the future.

One Year Tasting: June 26th, 2008

Flavors are pulling back all over the place in this beer.

Hop flavors have been dramatically reduced. There’s still a decent bitterness level, but it is neither as complex or prominent as before. You can still taste the citrus (especially grapefruit) in the hops, but that flavor is at least equaled by the “old hop” oxidized taste. Malt flavors are still mellow, no development at all there.

Overall, a definite disappointment, but not too surprising. Drink this one fresh, I’d say.

Cellar Outlook: With a flavor profile heavily relying on the hops, outlook is grim for this beer in the cellar.

Six month outlook notes - Given on how well this beer tasted after six months, I may have to revise my outlook a bit. I also have to figure out what the sediment was in my beer - is there bottle conditioning going on here or not? In any case, I’m sure we’ll continue to get additional oxidizing flavors from the hops, I’m just not sure to what extent now.

One year outlook notes - I’m not sure there’s much hope left here. The hop flavor will continue to recede, but there’s nothing in the malt development to suggest any further positive development in this beer.

Next Tasting: June 2009