Brews and Blues Beer and Smokin’ Blues

Chatoe Rogue – First Growth Wet Hop Ale

Brewery: Rogue Ales
Where: Newport, Oregon
Beer: Chatoe Rogue First Growth Wet Hop Ale
Style: American Pale Ale
IBU: 40
ABV: 6.4%

Here we have another installment from one of my favorite breweries.  The Chatoe Rogue First Growth Wet Hop Ale has been sitting on my shelf for a while now so I decided to chill it and pop the top this evening to see what's been going on in Oregon lately.  The First Growth Wet Hop Ale is an American pale ale with a fantastic hop flavor and aroma.  It has a rich golden orange appearance in the glass with a thick head.  The flavor is quite crisp and refreshing with a very nice hop presence.  The Munich malts used by Rogue in this beer give it a very nice malt presence when coupled with the two-row pale malt.  The hops used in this beer are first growth Independent and Revolution.  They come together for a great bitterness and piney flavor. 

Sometimes it sucks to live on the east coast.  There are some great beers made around here but the west coast is still the beer cultural center of the free world, in my humble opinion :)  Rogue has several beers in the Chatoe Rogue First Growth series, but this is the only one I could get my hands on...  Maybe I just need to travel more...