Rogue – Voodoo Donut Maple Bacon Ale

Yes, you read that headline properly. It says “Maple”. It says “Bacon”. And it says “Ale”. All in the same sentence. Welcome to the world of Portland’s Rogue Brewery, where cured pork is part of the brewing process. Inspired by a local gourmet donut shop (Portland is the kind of place where “Gourmet Donut Shops” are not unusual), the Maple Bacon Ale is a serious departure from anything I’ve tried before. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some oddly flavoured beers, but this one takes the cake..er..donut.

The first thing that will strike you about this beer, before you even open it, is the bottle: it’s pink. Like, BRIGHT PINK:

 

The second thing you will notice, upon pouring it out into four small sample glasses, because there is no way you can drink this whole thing yourself, and you want your family to experience the weirdness that is this beer, is the aroma. This thing is intense. A sickly sweet toffee/caramel scent fills your nostrils, giving you a heads-up that this is not a beer to be trifled with. It presents as a very cloudy gold colour, with good head retention.

But you don’t care about all that, right? You want to know what it tastes like! Well…

It’s not great. It does indeed tastes like maple, and like bacon, and like beer. But mostly it just tastes like smoke, like a beer that had a campfire piped through it. I’ve had ice cream made with liquid smoke, and that tasted incredible, like s’mores. This was not as delectable. It had strong coffee notes up front, with the bacon flavour coming in after in a long finish, and while it made me want to try a maple bacon donut, it did not make me want to drink more of this beer.

Not one to be greedy, I of course shared the beer with my parents and Ali. They had this to say about it:

“Didn’t really like it, too smokey” – Mom

“Not my favourite” – Dad

“I love you, but not this beer” – Ali

“The best part is the bottle” – Mom again

This is certainly unique, not a beer you will soon forget, and I will certainly be trying more Rogue beers to see what other crazy concoctions these guys are coming up with. That being said, I don’t see myself ever craving a Maple Bacon Ale anytime soon.