Rogue Ales - Mocha Porter

We know you like beer. But if you like chocolate as well, you’re going to love this beer! Talk about tasty. The Mocha Porter, which was originally named New Porter paying homage to the breweries hometown, is a very dark brown, almost black, porter offering hints of ruby. Look for a creamy, thick tan head and an aroma that’ll fill your nose with chocolate, caramel, roasted malt, and a healthy dose of floral hops. Note a dark malt flavor, followed by a chocolate maltiness, ending with a nicely balanced, dry hopped finish. Overall, a delicious, impressive porter. Drink this one cautiously; at 8% ABV it packs a wallop!

Rogue Ales was founded in 1988 by Jack Joyce, Rob Strasser, and Bob Woodell. Founded in Ashland, Oregon in 1989, the original brewery was closed and relocated to Newport after it was destroyed in a flood. In May of 1989, Brewmaster John Maier made his way from the Alaskan Brewery in Juneau to the doorsteps of Rogue just as they were creating their first brew. And its proven to be a longstanding relationship as john has brewed over 30 million pints of beer for them since that time! When questioned about it, he could not comment on exactly how many of them were consumed personally.

Not unlike many brewmasters, John’s background is a little out of the ordinary. After graduating from DeVry Institute of Technology in 1975, he went to work for Hughes Aircraft in El Segundo, California. As a Senior Electronic Technician from 1975 to 1986, he worked on the radar system for the F-14 Tomcat. Shortly after leaving Hughes, he wised up and attended the Siebel Institute of Technology in Phoenix, AZ, where he graduated from their 50th course in Brewing Technology. He then worked as Assistant Brewmaster at the Alaskan Brewery in Juneau until 1989. John is widely respected in the microbrewing industry, winning countless awards, including 1988 Homebrewer of the Year and, in 1997, the first ever Russell Scherher Award which recognizes innovation in craft brewing.

Not only is Rogue’s Brewmaster a several-time award winner, their beers have won 12 medals at the Great American Beer Festival and over 170 other awards in other brewing competitions all over the world. You could say…Rogue makes good beer! Actually, you could say, they make damn good beer. The brewery itself has been awarded the Northwest Brewery of the Year two years in a row. With this many awards, you might think that they must only make a few different beer styles and focus on making them really well. Wrong! They currently have an impressive 23 beers in production. Too bad we can’t send them all to you!

For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (541) 867-3660 or check out their web site at www.rogue.com.