As many of you may know, sriracha is a kind of Thai hot sauce made using distilled vinegar, garlic, and chili peppers. It's popular and is available at many restaurants around the US and abroad. Anyone who is familiar with the Huy Fong brand sauce will recognize the color and layout of the bottle. The beer is in fact made with actual sriracha, and I admit it, I couldn't resist. Enter the Rogue Rooster Sauce.
Pours black with a buff-colored head. I wasn't expected that dark of a beer, even despite knowing ahead of time it was a stout. I was expecting it to look a lot like the Rogue Chipotle Porter, sort of a burnished mahogany color. Nope, it's totally opaque.
Smells faintly of hot sauce and not much else. Let it sit, took a sip.
Good God, is it spicy. It hits you with an opening salvo of heat, giving way to a lingering chile flavor with residual heat that lasts on the tongue long after the beer is swallowed. In fact, I was looking forward to diving into the super-hot Madras kari patta curry I had going on the stove, if not to cool my mouth down. The beer finishes nicely with strong lingering flavors of chili and a little hint of malt.
One of the main reasons I think this beer is great is due to the uniformity of flavor, but also the straightforwardness. Unlike the Xocoveza, which is nuanced and multifaceted, the Rooster Sauce is just straight heat. I respect that straightforwardness and I respect the massive amounts of heat they pack into this beer. It makes the other pepper beers I've tried pale in comparison.
I absolutely will buy this again. It's excellent, start to finish, and is exactly what I was hoping for. It's spicy, hot, tangy, and keeps my attention throughout the entirely of the tasting experience. It's well worth the $15.99 per bottle!
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