Celebrating Oregon's 150 years with Rogue Sesquicentennial Ale

June 29, 1:24 AMPortland Drinks ExaminerIvy Hover

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 Rogue Brewery (2320 OSU Drive, Newport, Ore.; 541-867-3664) produced an all-Oregon ingredient ale to honor Oregon's 150th birthday: The top-fermenting Pacman yeast is from Wyeast Labs in Hood River, the hops are cultivated in Independence, Ore., some of the Munich and 2-Row malts were grown in the Klamath Basin, and the final ingredient in Sesquicentennial Ale is "free range coastal water." Even the bottles are manufactured in Portland and printed in Tualatin.

Rogue brewmaster, John Maier, wanted this special beer to showcase the flavor of the hops grown at Rogue Farms, and it most certainly does. It took a while to locate one of the limited-edition, 22-ounce serigraphed bottles (it was released Feb. 14), but I finally did track one down at the Roth's IGA in Monmouth, Ore. The price was $7.99 and it was rather disappointing. With the exceptions of Shakespeare Stout, Hazelnut Brown Nectar, and the perennial favorite Dead Guy Ale (I proudly fill my glow-in-the-dark growler wherever I go) Rogue brews tend to be too hoppy for my tastes and Sesquicentennial Ale was no different. I found it to be unbalanced and bitter, with vague hints of sweet malt and citrus, and a thick, almost wheaty, mouth feel. Overall, both my tasting companion and I were not impressed, and dumped the remainder of the bottle.

However, Rogue does score bonus points for the arty Sesquicentennial Series limited-edition bottles that have just been released. These bottlings pay tribute to historic landmarks throughout the Beaver State: The Bayfront Brewery in Newport, Astoria's Pier 39 cannery, Portland's 1928 Portland Theatre, Wigrich Ranch hop yard in Independence, Eugene's Eugene City Brewery and the Ashland Springs Hotel.

Sesquicentennial Ale is available on draft at Rogue pubs, and in limited-edition 22-ounce bottles until Dec. 31, 2009.

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