Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar

It really dates me when I say this but I can't believe how much the craft beer industry has grown since I started drinking it well over a decade ago. There are craft breweries popping up all over. There are groceries store that have beer sections instead of aisles. Speaking for my part of New York there are fantastic bottle shops all over. When I first started drinking craft beer going to the only bottle shop in town was a rare treat. The concept of selling a single bottle out of a six pack blew my mind. No matter what my budget was when I entered the store, I would drastically exceed it by the time I walked out. Some beers were great, and some were terrible but I kept learning more and more about different styles. The brewery I could not get enough of was Rogue Ales & Spirits. Their creativity with their beers and their labeling were right in my wheelhouse. My favorite of them all was their Hazelnut Brown Nectar. This hazelnut-flavored brown ale became the beer I bought every time I went to the bottle shop. It was the one constant in the selection of different beers I would always leave with. Then one day I didn't leave with it, and then another. As different brands began to gain distribution in my market the beers from Rogue Ales & Spirits started to become an afterthought. Over the past several years I have had a few of their beers, but outside of the mediocre 7 Hop IPA and gimmicky Sriracha Stout I can't remember a single one. So for this blog, I thought it would be fun to revisit an old favorite of mine in the Hazelnut Brown Nectar.

It had been years but the minute I began pouring Hazelnut Brown Nectar, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia. The hazelnut aroma jumps out of the glass. There are notes of toffee, vanilla, and spice in there but it is mostly hazelnut. The first sip of this slightly hazy reddish brown treat immediately brought a ton of memories back. Once I got past the nostalgia, I genuinely realized how much I missed this beer. The hazelnut flavor is absolutely wonderful and it dominates the beer. Usually I would complain about this but in this case I like it. Aside the finish, vanilla, roasted chocolate malt, and hazelnut flavor is mostly all you taste.  This finish is where things get a little odd. The finish that consists of nuts, grass and spice which do not seem to mesh well together. It's not terrible, it just could have been better.

Due to the dominance of the hazelnut flavor there is not much else here to write about. Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar is a beer that still works well for me. Its flavor may be fairly one-note but in this case simplicity works really well. I am glad I went back and revisited this one. I do not think it will be years again before it finds its way back to my refrigerator again.

Over all I would rate Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar a 4/5. Over the years my tastes may have changed, but my love of this beer has not.


Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!