Rogue Imperial Porter
JLS Release #16: Imperial Porter ~ for summer you ask? Why the hell not! This is not your average porter, this is not Mocha Porter. This is a huge mouthful of malt and hops. It has notes of bitter rich chocolate and hints of tar. A new hop variety called Summit was used to give it the perfect hop balance. This Porter is the Creme de la Creme!
Unfiltered, Unrefined, Uncompromised. Imperial Porter is brewed with two row pale, Munich, dark crystal, chocolate and black malts; and 100% Summit hops. Original Gravity @ 18.7 degrees plato, Finishing Gravity @ 4.75 degrees plato,
Unfiltered, Unrefined, Uncompromised. Imperial Porter is brewed with two row pale, Munich, dark crystal, chocolate and black malts; and 100% Summit hops. Original Gravity @ 18.7 degrees plato, Finishing Gravity @ 4.75 degrees plato,
3.7
236 reviews
Newport, United States
Community reviews
On tap at El Bait Shop. Pours black with a dark beige head. Creamy. Rich chocolate aroma. Very sour acidic tartness is awful. A prune raisin bomb. Super sour. Very low pH. This overpowers most other flavors. It tries to finish with a tar bitterness but the lactic acid up front is ugly.
On tap at the Happy Gnome in St. Paul, MN. Pours a very dark and opaque chocolate brown with a tan head (dense lacing, too). Aroma is dark chocolate, molasses, tobacco, and some basement earthiness. Pretty lively in the mouth, not as viscous as I expected due to the semi-strong carbonation. It’s got a nice bitterness that is highlighted by the smokey tar and tobacco flavors that give the chocolate/coffee staple a new flair. This is one of the more imaginative "American"-style porters I’ve had (more hoppy, less sweet, "over"-carbonated imo); I think the tobacco flavors are the key. Really nice.
2008 vintage at Hashigo Zake. Pours pitch black, tan head. Aroma has intense roast malt, kinda marmitey. Also big citric hop aromas.
Full bodied flavours of intense coffee and rich chocolate explode in the mouth. Hops manage to sneak through somehow with classic US hop flavours mingling with everything perfectly.
Could be a little sweeter, but that’s just splitting hairs. Awesome.
Ive had this on tap and out of the bottle. A good porter, but for an imperial, I expected a touch more.
2008 bottle, which there are an awful lot of reviews of. Has it been bottled since? Anyway, poors black with a light brown moderate creamy head. Looks very nice, as always. Aroma of almonds, strong dark chocolate, espresso, red wine, wood, caramel. Any hint of aging at "too warm" temperatures is kept to a minimum. Tastes of dark chocolate and coffee followed by wood, dry red wine, dirt, slight leafiness (like tea), and toasted nuts. Finishes incredibly flavorful, like nutty dark chocolate fudge with earth, wood, and no "ashy" bitterness. Medium bodied, creamy, and not all that heavy really, but the heat is oddly noticeable which doesn’t happen much with Rogue. Great beer! Love that finish.
750 ml bottle 2008 version from Jungle Jim’s. Pours very dark brown/black with a large creamy beige head. The aroma is roasted malt, dark chocolate and some grassy hops. The flavor is dark roasted malts, dark chocolate, grassy hops leading to a moderately bitter finish. There is a slight off flavor that may come from the ceramic, I’m not sure. Medium full bodied and smooth. This is pretty decent and something I would have never purchased if it hadn’t been marked down to $5.50 per bottle.
Flip top. Dark brown color, light brown head, lots of lace. Nice malty aroma. Taste of coffee. Slightly hoppy. Good stuff.
2008 ceramic bottle. Pours pitch black with a two finger tan head into a snifter. Quite a sweet aroma: definitive black malts, lemon and herby hops, bittersweet chocolate, coffee and cream, earth/minerals. Pretty complex nose, but it seems a bit thin. Unlike many porters, the start is the thin portion of the drink instead of the finish. Begins with well balanced citruisy hops and black malt. An earthy backbone holds throughout the entire drink. Finishes dry with black coffee and cocoa. Medium-full bodied with a luxurious aged-induced, velvety mouthfeel. This drinks quite well despite the bitterness. The abv is nowhere to be found. This is most definitely a concentrated mocha porter. It does lack body, but the flavor and drinkability make it a formidable brew nonetheless.
From tap at Rogue Ales Public House in SF. Pours dark brown to black with a small off-white head. Aroma is mild butterish and dark roasted note. Bitter, roasted and butterish. Thick malty flavour into a dry and bitter finish. Seems a bit off, another tap issue at this place.
on tap at rogue brewery in portland. nice and strong porter with a noticable roast bitterness balanced by some of the hops.
(bottle - 750 ml swingtop - 2008 vintage) Dark black pour with a thick and puffy tan head. Roasted chocolate and barley aroma with some noticeable hops in the aroma. Bitter malts and a rather floral hop taste begin the flavor before moving to a very dry and bitter coffee middle. The dryness continues on into the end and finishes with a very flowery and bitey hop taste. A bit thin-bodied.
750 ml swing top, shared, poured into a snifter. Pours opaque black in color with a cocoa head. Aromas are light coffee, burnt chocolate, roasted nuts. The flavor is sweetened dark espresso, yeasty bread, chesnuts, fading into dried fruits as it warms. It has a thick, oily body and a lasting finish worth savoring.
Ceramic bottle, 2008 vintage. Pours an opaque, black body with red hue and a brown foam head. Aroma of dark chocolate, dark malts, espresso, and faint grapefruit and pine hops. Flavor of roasted malts, bitter hops, cocoa powder, and coffee. Nice thick mouthfeel with light carbonation. Finish is charred malts and bitter hops.
Bottle. Pours dark brown with a small tan head. Aroma of dark roasted malts, chocolate and mild coffee. Flavor was burnt roasted malts, chocolate, light vanilla, caramel and has a roasted hoppy finish.
On draft in Isaaquah. This impy porter has a nose of malts, earthy hops, and chocolate. The taste is similar with a bit of alcohol on the backend. Smooth body and low carbonation. A pretty great impy porter.
Sampled on draft at Fat Head’s in Pittsburgh PA this beer poured a black color with a medium sized tan head. The aroma was sweetish, roasty and chocolaty with moderate floral hops. The flavor was bitter coffee and cocoa with roasty malts, sharp floral hops and vanilla. Very long bitter roasty and floral hop finish. Fairly full bodied. Well done.
Bottle ceramic hinged. Poured dark brown color with an average frothy brown head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate roasted malt, earthy hop and dark chocolate aroma. Medium to full body with a smooth texture and flat carbonation. Medium to heavy dark toasted chocolate flavor with medium to heavy bittersweet finish of moderate to long duration. Solid complex beer.
Deep brown color with a medium brown head. Aroma is chocolate molasses caramel. Taste is the same. Light mouthfeel.
2008 Ceramic Bottle
Poured a deep, opaque reddish brown with a finger thick head that faded to lasting lacing. Smelled of roasted coffee and grain. Taste starts off with a hint of fruit that quickly gives way to roasted coffee, malt and finally fades to a roasted chocolate. Palate is good, if maybe a bit thin. Very enjoyable mix of flavors.
Draught@Oliver Twist as "XS Imperial Porter"
Pitch black, small brown head. Roasted, a bit licorice and glue in the nose. Sticky licorice, coffee, roasted malty flavor. Slightly glueish notes disturb.
Tap at Rattle n Hum, dark brown malty goodness. Very roasty with fresh espresso and dark chocolate over the malt sweetness. Some dark fruits and toffee... though honestly I found it a bit short of the brilliant Mocha Porter, so a re-try is in order here..
Oh, so good. Had some from the tap at Rattle n Hum. Pours a dark brown with a bubbly off-white head. Nose of heavily roasted malts, coffee. Flavor is rich and complex. Strong coffee and chocolate character with notes of dark fruits and caramel. Thich and filling. Clean, delicious and lasting finish makes every sip a joy.
On tap @ RnH. Surprisingly hoppy with cherries and roasted malts. Perhaps some candied figs are involved as well. Strong and packs some heat, not exactly a beginners beer.
Pours a dark brown, firm, somewhat spotty, but anti-dissapating head....looks exactly the same between 1 seconds after pour and 4 minutes after pour. Nose has bits of roasted malt and chocolate and touches od hop resin. Flavors are extremely roasty and mouthfeel, at least at first, is fairly wet. Fairly aggressive bitterness in the finish...the baltic porter style designation on hamilton’s blackboard is a little misleading...this is no doubt ale yeast at work here and hop levels that are completely a different language than baltic...but whatever. The flavors here are dry cocoa, bitter, powdery....almost a little lactic in the finish...tangled in with the bittering hops...not bad, but nothing intriging.
Had during the annual Boston/Salem/Marble head tour. Not sure where I sampled this one at it may have been sunset. Brown pour with coffee aroma nice blended roast flavor. It was a good beer.
On tap (seasonal) @ Flying Saucer Draught Emporium in KC. Reminiscent of a Baltic porter with strong hindtaste of raisin/plum/date. Great beer, but definitely too big for easy drinking.
Another great Rogue regular. Well made, well balanced. A great porter indeed.
26/08/2009. Hashigo Zake. What do you drink after an (as usual) amazing dinner at Wellington’s best Indian (Great India). A black chocolate delight of a beer. Perfect sipping for the cool nights of late winter. Intense dark chocolate flavour with an underlying sweetness that carries more than a hint of dark currants and raisin, along with a pleasant alcohol warmth... and then a long bittersweet finish. This beer as true super heavyweight and. although it feels a lot bigger and sweeter in the mouth, it is just as drinkable as the XS Imperial Stout. Thumbs up and high-fives for Rogue.
Pours a brown black with a thin cappuccino head. Smells of vanilla, biscuits, and oatmeal. Creamy palate. Tastes of smoked malt, alcohol, mocha and vanilla. Deliciously caramely tastes mostly hide that alcohol, though.
Bottle at Stockholm Beer and Whisky 2009.
Dark brown coloured with a small beige head.
Sweet and roasted aroma of vanilla and dark chocolate.
Roasted flavour of dark chocolate, vanilla and hops.
Dry roasted and hoppy finish.