Chatoe Rogue First Growth Wet Hop Ale

Hello dear readers, haven't posted anything in a while. My attention span lately has been more Twitter and less Blogger. Sorry about that.

I picked up the Chatoe Rogue First Growth Wet Hop Ale (CRFGWHA for short?) at the inimitable State Line Liquors in Elkon, MD, along with a bunch of other great beers. I was unaware Rogue was putting out a fresh-hop, so when I saw the last one sitting on the shelf, it was all over. I cracked it open Tuesday night with some Cabot cheddar cheese my uncle Bob from VT gifted me with the weekend before. Let the reviewing commence:

Appearance: Poured a dark amber color with good head retention. Color was darker than I anticipated, but it that's not a bad thing.

Smell: Fresh hops are obviously front and center. Grassier than an IPA with kiln-dried hops, the organics of the fresh hops used here remain.

Taste: A lot sweeter than the smell let on. I was surprised how much the sweet malts came through, but I guess I was in more of a DIPA mindset going into this beer. This is a pale ale by my standards, but the fresh hops add another dimension to the mild bitterness. It went great with the cheddar.

Mouthfeel: Nice and balanced, medium carbonation. No aftertaste really stuck around too long.

Drinkability: I doubt anyone would have too many of these on hand at once, but this beer is very drinkable. At 6.4% ABV and 40 IBUs its not too strong to enjoy a couple pints if you see it on tap anywhere. As Jimmy noticed, there's at least one more beer in this Chatoe Rogue series, so I'm looking forward to see what else they can cook up with their own hops in the kettle.