One New York Life

Rogue Mom Hefeweizen

Brewed By: Rogue Ales
Brewed In: Newport, OR
ABV: 4.8%
Type: Wheat Ale
Awards

• Bronze: World Beer Championships – 1994, 1996-1999, 2005, 2008
• Silver: World Beer Championships – 1995
• Gold: World Beer Championships – 2003
• Silver: Australian International Beer Awards – 2004
• Bronze: Australian International Beer Awards – 2008
• Pacific Northwest Champion: U.S. Beer Tasting Championships – 2002, 2003
• First Place: California Brewer’s Festival – 2002

What They Say: This Belgian-style blonde ale is an unfiltered fusion of wheat and barley malts, spiced with coriander and ginger.

Website: Of all the beer websites I’ve seen, Rogue’s might be the best. A clean newswire service (without an RSS Feed) on the front page to keep people updated with current events. The navigation is contained in a nice, thematic header with links decreasing in importance from left to right. The videos aren’t auto-play, letting the user decide if he wants to read or listen. Each “Meeting Room” includes a menu, map, and description. Events are actually up to date. In fact, the only error I could find is that their “Home” and “Blog” link in the upper right both lead to the same page. I’ve found another disciple of Don’t Make Me Think.

Why I Picked It: I’ve been a fan of Rogue for a long time. My first ever Rogue purchase was a joke. From high school through my mid-twenties, I went camping every Memorial Day weekend at Lake George; a small tourist town in Upstate New York’s Adirondack mountains. In general, people go to Lake George because it’s one of the few places in Upstate New York that has a beach… or what passes for a beach when one doesn’t grow up near the ocean. It’s also one of the half-dozen places that Rachael Ray claims she’s from dependent on what she’s making. In this case, she graduated from the high school and worked in one of the town’s many hotels before becoming the little juggernaut we know today. The first year we turned 21 and didn’t have to smuggle beer in to the campsite, my friend Chris and I went to the beer store that’s across the street from the campground. Inside, we were introduced to the world of craft beer bombers (though we didn’t know it at the time). We purchased Rogue’s Dead Guy Ale and Young’s Dirty Dick Ale because, well, they were funny. Ten years later and Rogue is my favorite underrated (on the East Coast) brewery. Amazingly, this is the first Rogue I’ve reviewed on here. At Whole Foods last weekend, it was between this and Brooklyn’s Buzz. I’ve been in a rut with Brooklyns, so I went Rogue. This was on the Whole Foods growler board as “Half-E-Weizen”

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Presentation (5): I got this from a tap, but the 22 oz version is a typical Rogue bottle with the image of, presumably, somebody’s mom. I’d suggest the person on the bottle looks more like the average grandmother, but whatever. Rogue’s bottling is pretty creative — managing to be unique while the images are always stylistic enough to be very obviously a Rogue bottle. On this particular beer though, it’s labeled as a hefeweizen, is claimed as a Belgian-style on the website, but fits neither of those profiles. BeerAdvocate claims it as a witbier and that seems probably the most correct. 4 for the uniquely Rogue presentation of bombers, but minus 2 because of my inability to figure out what I’m drinking. 2

Originality (5): By the bottle definition of it being a hefeweizen, my gut instinct is to say “low.” However, the description and the tasting notes suggest it’s a fusion of Belgian-style and hefeweizen, with a sprinkling of blonde wheatness. I don’t know if “Mom Hefeweizen” exactly covers everything that’s going on here. 4

Body (10): The first clue that this is neither a Belgian or a hefeweizen is the body. It doesn’t have that thick, dense quality of the Belgian nor does it have the floaters of the hefeweizen. Instead, it features the thinner, golden, clear amber of a wheat. The head pours nicely and dissipates quickly, which prefaces the lowish carbonation content. Given the body, I’m not sure how much the Belgian yeasts really add. It seems to make the beer a little dryer than it needs to be. 6

Taste (10): I see what they’re doing here. There are flavors of all the things they suggest. I get the aromas of the Belgian-style and also the nice mix of citrusy flavors from both styles. The yeasty bite of the Belgian half hits you in the finish, but the citrus and the wheat malts really work to defeat the dryness associated with the style. The coriander and ginger flavors lend it a much more refreshing, summery taste — the citrus jazzing up a pretty strong yeasty presence. There’s a lot going on here. It’s not bad, but I don’t know if it’s the most fabulous pairing of flavors. 7

Efficiency (10): While I can’t beat the price of $7.99 for a half-gallon-o-beer, the 4.8% ABV, while it’s standard for the type, makes this relatively low on the efficiency scale. If I’m going to be drinking hundreds of empty calories, I’d rather them not be accompanied by 4.8% ABV. I mean, it’s hardly worth it at that point. I’m pretty sure you could drink this beer forever and hardly catch a buzz. For instance, my whole growler went down with nary a whisper. 2

Versatility (10): On the other hand, this is a fantastic summer beer. While the flavor is a bit complex, it goes down easily. Consumed ice cold out of the tap, most folks probably wouldn’t notice the complex flavors. Consumed a little warmer and snobs can try to pick out everything going on. One strike I have: purchasing options of “bomber” and “keg” probably doesn’t address every need. 9

The Snob Sez: It’s not Rogue’s craziest offering, though the blending of three distinct types is right up their alley, but it’s a decent summer beer. I have to say, if I had to choose one 22 oz bottle of summer to bring to a cook-out — this would be pretty high on the list. Solid, if not rockstar, offering from Rogue.

Final Score: 30 (of 50) Good beer.