This is the second of apparently four GYO Rogue beers that I have been able to find in my neck of the woods. If you check their website (www.rogue.com) you’ll find they currently offer a Blonde Ale, Black Lager, and two Pales as a part of this series. Looking back at my review on the Single Malt Ale I noticed that it only used one malt (Dare) and one hops (Revolution) which Rogues grows on their micro farms.

This beer however utilizes a few more hops (Willamette, Sterling, and Revolution) and malts (Dare and Risk) providing for a richer/hoppier beer. The name OREgasmic comes from the fact that all the ingredients come from Oregon and its well…damn good! While the website classifies it as a Pale Ale I would say it leans more towards a Red Ale and is similar in aroma and flavor as Captain Sig’s Northwestern Ale and St. Rogue Red.

I’ve always enjoyed pouring Rogue beers as they are always very aromatic producing a glass lacing dense head that welcomes you to yet another brewing masterpiece. What greeted me were a hazy copper/burnt orange color and a wonderful nose.

The hop that stuck out to me was Revolution which was familiar to me from the last GYO brew. I’ve found that Sterling is more of an herbal pungent hop and Willamette is a floral variety so combined the three produced an earthy, dank blend that had hits of pear and a definite spicy pine note. The malts refused to be ignored as they yelled at me with loud toffee and caramel toasted notes.

I found the taste balanced between a really hoppy amber or spicy red ale. I’m not sure how Rogue harvests the raw materials, dries the hops, and kilns the grain, but you can tell there is a freshness to the brew. The hops cast a mild bittering at first which then open up into a piney resinous finish. All the while the malt coats your palate with a creamy caramel body. The aftertaste is clean with no one ingredient overpowering the other. I’d say this is a well balanced, full body beer.

ABV: 6.0%

Grade: B+