Beer – #193 – Rogue – Voodoo Doughnut Chocolate Peanut Butter and Banana Ale
A most improbable beer then – Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Chocolate Peanut Butter and Banana Ale, with I hasten to add – Natural Flavours!
Brewed of course by Rogue Ales and this is in the style of a Fruit Beer and the madness is all happening in Newport, Oregon USA.
A Collision of Crazies Rogue Ales has again collided with Voodoo Doughnut to create Chocolate, Banana & Peanut Butter Ale! This unique artisan creation contains a baker’s dozen ingredients including chocolate, banana and peanut butter to match Voodoo’s “Memphis Mafia” doughnut- a nod to Elvis’ entourage.
Conflicted by the bottle label of 5.3% ABV and the sticker advice of 6.5% ABV this 1 US pint bottle contains either 3.1 or 3.8 standard drinks. Take your pick.
I think this is going to be “sweet”, and for no reason I expect it to be pale in colour. I might be 1 for 2. I also think that it’s going to be a long beer, in that it might take a while to digest and drink. After all a sweet beer might not be the thing. But in the interests of taste and experience I had to get one.
It occurs to me of course that this could be a “dessert” beer, if you’re looking for a wine comparison.
Slightly sour on the opening. Pours a dark chocolate brown, with a firm light brown head. Chocolate and Banana to the fore.
Taste is like a hint of very smooth peanut butter, with a mild chocolate carry, I don’t immediately get any banana.
Couple of things, not a sweet as I thought it might be, and it’s a lot darker than I imagined.
Also pretty carbonation heavy and has a burp factor. Head remains firm and delivers a decent lacing too. The aroma is picking up to banana as it sits a bit, and is beginning to deliver on the palate.
And this leaves me in an odd place. For this is neuter unpleasant and at the same time neither is it pleasant. Pleasant in the sense that you’ve suddenly sculled the whole thing and can’t remember doing it pleasant. It’s pleasant in that it’s not a lot of thinks that could be horrible and wasteful.
The chocolate note lends itself a lot to a stout type experience if you want to get to a point. There is also not an unpleasant bitterness to this, it’s many beers in one.
The pdubyah-o-meter is aching to award arbitrary scores on this, and I think 8. I think 8 because this could be a train wreck and it isn’t. There is no huge bell curve of taste, nothing at either end that makes the eyebrow arch with interest. The taste is all in the middle, all lined up.
This then is a bit clever. It’s also a bit dumb. The all natural flavours lean towards disbelief and doubt, like they’re potentially a little bit made-up by a man in a white coat. It’s clever because it’s quite outrageous. I like the soft flavours, I like the bitterness, I like that it has a head that carries.
I find myself a bottle downed and a smile. I liked this so much more than I thought I would, but then I went in with an open mind and few expectations. Not a drink for everyone, but it sets up a nice evening in with a early goal on the board.
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I made my own beer for about five years. I made a whole variety of styles. Two of my favorites were flavored beers — pumpkin ale and raspberry wheat. So, I’m not averse to a little bit of fruity flavor in a beer, but the name of this beer and the conglomeration of ingredients and flavors … well, it just isn’t beer anymore. Thank you for being the experimenter on it. Who knows, based on what you’ve described, I may actually try it one day.
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It’s really not as bad as the label says it might be, but I can see why it would divide a group of people. I do have the Voodoo Bacon Maple one to try. I’m not expecting to enjoy it as much as Maple is a fairly distinctive taste all by itself. Stand by…
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Looking forward to hearing how the Bacon Maple goes. Bacon seems to be one of those trendy foods that must be added to everything these days.
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