Hazelnut Brown Nectar

Brewery: Rogue Ales & Spirits

Supplier: Beer52

Not usually a big fan of Rogue, I bought this one as I love hazelnuts, but didn't realise they use Hazelnut extract (though apparently it's natural). Rogue is an Oregon-based brewery and quite often does novelty beers. This is one of their core range; so one of their consumer-tested recipes rather than a one-off that could be fantastic or horrible, and it's won gold twice (2011&12) in the Specialty Beer Category of the Great American Beer Festival. I served this chilled.

Appearance: A clear brown with a hint of ruby when held to the light. The head is a latte brown colour, it's medium in size but thins to a trace quite quickly.

Aroma: The most distincly brown toast like note that I have every smelt, these then develove more into a nutty note. There are also underlying sweet malt notes.

Flavour: Again brown toast on the front, with some musty malt notes in there. With some drinking there are some vanilla notes that come throughh.

Body: Quite thick and a full mouthfeel, works really well with this beer

Aftertaste: Give a refreshing mix of minty hops and malt that round of the beer and refreshes the pallet. 

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 7, a nice beer and quite unique. Even though there no discernable nutty notes, I think the nuts add an element to it.

Price Range: £2.55 (usually £3) for a 355ml bottle, a decent price for a very sessionable beer.

Food Pairings: Whilst this is on the sweeter side I think something sweet like dried fruits (like banana, apple, pear, etc.) would go very well; maybe with a savoury coat - like apple crisps.