Friday = Beer

The NFL Season has officially started, and it's a Friday. Smells like Beer Time to me.

Today's incredible selection, if I do say so myself, is Rogue Ale Shakespeare Stout.

The beer is pitch-black and opaque with a lovely inch-thick off-white head that leaves gobs of lacing down the sides as it goes. So thick, it even leaves "legs" like wine. So deep and thick, it has a gravitational pull.

Now the aroma: perfect balance. Big roast balanced by chocolate sweetness from chocolate malts and a brilliant Cascade citrusy-hop, all at the same time. Romeo, Juliet and a bottle of poison, baby. Perfect symmetry.

The taste is divine. All of those flavors come at you one after another; first the huge roasts, like dark toast and espresso. The best part is the interplay between the citrus Cascade hops and the chocolate. Ever had that orange-flavored chocolate candy? Here you go. Truly an American Stout, with ingenuity and hop-craziness replacing the more subtle British verison of a stout.

This beer has a creamy mouthfeel, well-balanced with a medium-carbonated pop. A little light-bodied to remain true to the style, but that's no real barrier. Nice alcoholic warmth.

This is no session beer; it's not that the ABV is too high for a good session beer; it's the complexity. Your tongue will get tired, like I imagine Romeo's would have on that sly minx Juliet.

Enjoy this amazing offering from Rogue brewery wherever you can find it. A true classic from a consistently-good brewery.