It's been awhile since I've reviewed a beer. I've had a few really tasty ones, but haven't gotten around to reviewing them. Today that changes with the Rogue Farms GYO Honey Kolsch.
A quick story about the difference between Rogue and Rogue Farms is the Rogue Farms includes ingredients that they grow themselves. GYO = Grow Your Own. This is a powerful leap toward outstanding artisanal beers. Rogue controls the barley, the hops and all the adjuncts like honey, berries, and even pumpkins that they use in these beers. What this means for us is one company controls every step of production in a process they call Ground to Glass. No middle men taking their cut of profits, no growers spraying who knows what on the produce, and no outside brewery bottling the end results. It's kind of like going to a farmer's market except instead of tomatoes and radishes, we get beer!
Rogue Farms Honey Kolsch is about as good a Kolsch as I've ever had. Kolsch in and of itself is a lightly hopped, light weight beer that is quite refreshing. Adding the wildflower and hopyard honeys only adds to the ease of drinking. Even with the obvious but mild honey aroma and taste, the beer still stays light and crisp. It doesn't have a thick honey consistency like you might imagine. It's just smooth, clean and wicked tasty. I checked out their website and they suggested pairing this beer with cheese and spicy foods. I think that would be a wonderful match. I would, however, like to add that this beer would also pair well with barbecue, tamales, pizza, twice cooked pork, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken ala king...probably dog biscuits. I honestly can't think of any cuisine that I couldn't at least try to pair with Rogue's Honey Kolsch. Well...maybe not breakfast. My suggestion is go get a couple of the 750ml bottles and drink it with dinner for a week. If something doesn't pair with it, let me know.
Go check out Rogue and Rogue Farms Beers at: http://www.rogue.com/
A quick story about the difference between Rogue and Rogue Farms is the Rogue Farms includes ingredients that they grow themselves. GYO = Grow Your Own. This is a powerful leap toward outstanding artisanal beers. Rogue controls the barley, the hops and all the adjuncts like honey, berries, and even pumpkins that they use in these beers. What this means for us is one company controls every step of production in a process they call Ground to Glass. No middle men taking their cut of profits, no growers spraying who knows what on the produce, and no outside brewery bottling the end results. It's kind of like going to a farmer's market except instead of tomatoes and radishes, we get beer!
Rogue Farms Honey Kolsch is about as good a Kolsch as I've ever had. Kolsch in and of itself is a lightly hopped, light weight beer that is quite refreshing. Adding the wildflower and hopyard honeys only adds to the ease of drinking. Even with the obvious but mild honey aroma and taste, the beer still stays light and crisp. It doesn't have a thick honey consistency like you might imagine. It's just smooth, clean and wicked tasty. I checked out their website and they suggested pairing this beer with cheese and spicy foods. I think that would be a wonderful match. I would, however, like to add that this beer would also pair well with barbecue, tamales, pizza, twice cooked pork, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken ala king...probably dog biscuits. I honestly can't think of any cuisine that I couldn't at least try to pair with Rogue's Honey Kolsch. Well...maybe not breakfast. My suggestion is go get a couple of the 750ml bottles and drink it with dinner for a week. If something doesn't pair with it, let me know.
Go check out Rogue and Rogue Farms Beers at: http://www.rogue.com/
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Me and my Rogue and my Pink Floyd fridge magnet!
