Dead Guy Ale, Rogue Ales

Beers from the bock family are pretty malty and sweet, which is probably why they’re associated with spring.  Let’s for a moment fast forward a few months to get into the mood.  The leaves are back, flowers are blooming, a warm breeze ever so gently dispels the gloom of winter.  You’re out on your buddy’s deck and feel like drinking a nice maibock to go with the weather.  He happens to have one and brings it out, but when you see the label, you’re shocked by an image of a skeleton and the words “Dead Guy Ale.”  Wow.  That’s, uh... kind of morbid.

Everything about this beer seems backwards at first.  It’s a springtime lager style brewed with ale yeast and labeled with Dia de los Muertos imagery.  Many people claim this to be a sessionable beer (able to drink for a few hours without losing your ability to work), but it has a noticeably higher alcohol content than your average session beer.  But all these contradictions have justifications.

The sweetness from the malt is there, but it is met by an assertive bitter hoppiness.  I’m going to guess that comes from the Alpha Acids (AA) of the Perle hops they use.  For those of you who don’t brew, step into my office for a moment...

Alpha Acids are microscopic gremlins that live

inside hop buds, like midi-chlorians but angry.

They try to protect themselves from being

consumed by being really bitter.  The more

gremlins the hop has, the more bitter the beer

will be.  Final twist, their number is expressed

as a percentage.  This doesn’t fit into the

story I just told you, so I’m going to ignore it.

And we’re back!  The AA of Perle hops is between 7 and 9.5%.  That contrasts with the 3 to 4.5% of Saaz, the other hop variety used.  This bitterness juxtaposed with a bock’s sweetness seems to illustrate the way death is never far from new life, whether that be from a couple down the street giving birth or through a new perspective on the world gained by the deceased’s loved ones.  If you wanted to turn up the volume on the malt, you would have to put up with more bitterness, a testament to the way life and death are inextricably linked and must be observed in tandem.  By switching the style to an ale yeast strain, Rogue has brought out fruit flavors, which could be seen as an homage to the incredibly diversified sources of happiness we encounter in our lives.  Pretty deep for such a light colored beer!

The last contradiction is that of it tasting like a session beer while having an ABV of 6.5%.  This comes from its surprisingly drinkable nature.  Perhaps an allusion to how life keeps on going no matter how bitter your experience is at any given point?  Okay, I have to stop.

                            If you’re drinking this as a session beer, be careful!