Rogue Brewery in Newport, OR

When Miles first wrote about the release of the John John series back in December, I was super excited to get my hands on some of Rogue Brewery’s John John ales. More than anything else, for me at least, would be the chance to try the John John Dead Guy Ale, which was to be aged in Dead Guy whiskey barrels from Rogue’s distillery. My love for beers that have a bourbon tinge is unmatched, and also part of the reason I worship Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout. So when this John John Dead Guy was announced with its marriage partner being whiskey, I couldn’t have been more excited. Yeah, the Juniper Ale aged in gin barrels and Hazelnut Brown being aged in rum barrels both do sound rather enticing, but there’s something about a beer that has a bourbon touch rolling through it that really just makes me want to drink. It’s also probably the reason that it was the first of the series to be released. Thanks to a very kind friend out in Oregon, we were able to pick up a bottle of John John Dead Guy Ale to see whether this series was something that we’d be looking forward to all year long.

Now, considering some of the other special beers we’ve come across from Rogue, we were expecting something massively great (looking at you, Younger’s Bitter). After a little investigation, I was a tad surprised to find this beer only hovering around 6% in terms of ABV. When I think of a beer aged in bourbon barrels, I’m hoping for something pushing 10% at least. So subtlety would clearly be a big factor in this beer, something we don’t often link to Rogue’s brewing style. The color was very appealing, with streaks of apricot mixed together with a golden-orange color. I don’t exactly remember what the regular Dead Guy Ale from Rogue looks like, but I have to think both of these fit the German Maibock category quite well when it comes to color. The smell was an immediate splash of vanilla and apricot cream–much sweeter than we expected. After much posturing, we gave this one a sip, and all of us immediately noticed the crash of bourbon onto the tongue. John John Dead Guy wasn’t particularly commanding, and the bourbon flavor certainly traipsed through the mouth with every other flavor that came to the party. Further tasting revealed touches of orange and apricot near the front notes, with an earthy, oak flavor dancing with some light caramel near the end. The scent of vanilla was slightly stronger than the flavor, but occasionally, you could pick up a flash of it near the middle. The beer was also thinner than I thought it would be, and the alcohol wasn’t really present at all. If you’d asked me if this was a special edition run of a beer, I’d probably have told you that it wasn’t.

For all the well-conceived and potent beers Rogue produces for special occasions (look to any of their ceramic bottles), this John John Dead Guy Ale was a completely tame and quite enjoyable brew. The beer was certainly more on the sweeter side, but the bourbon helped dull down any overpowering sweet notes. This is definitely a beer you could enjoy a few pints of in a night, and certainly one I wouldn’t be too frightened of when bringing it to a dinner party where not all guests were craft beer fanatics. And after thinking it over, it’s kind of nice to run into a special edition beer where I don’t need to fight through the bottle while enjoying all the heavy flavors. This is a special beer, and not just because it’s a special edition. Rogue toned this one down, but made it quite a pearl in another way–with subtle and lovable flavors.