[A Beer a Day] Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale | Rogue Brewing | Newport, OR

This little piggy made me go wee wee.

One would think that the semi-regular colloquialism -- "Beer, its whats for breakfast" -- would pretty much have its origins rooted in the contents of this piglet-colored beer bottle, am I right?

All the essentials of the holy food trinity are represented - ham, doughnuts, syrup - and it goes without mentioning that all of these ingredients are liquefied amber goodness in the form of alcoholic daddy juice.  All the essentials to the start of a fine day, all before removing your PJs.

But I would argue instead that Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale is less a breakfast treat, and more of the late-night drunk street food varietal.  The kind of stuff that has you traipsing the 2AM street-meat crowd for your insatiable savory/sweet/bacon/beer appetite that arouses itself about that time every Friday night.

When Melissa and I decided to do an in-house pub crawl -- where we opened a new bomber at different, but frequently utilized drinking stations around our house -- we saved this beer for the spot that we call our Dive Bar, the dank, dimly lit confines of our garage where we gorge away on cold nights.  Because this was only the second stop on the go-around from our back patio, to the garage, to the side patio, to the front porch; our palates were still very lively -- an intentional effort so that our palates would cull all of the distinct flavors from this beer.

What we found -- well, at least I did -- was very little Applewood-smoked bacon flavor, but an enormous aroma and palatal notes of maple doughnuts, and something more similarly compared to a Chicken-and-Waffles beer than a Bacon-Doughnut beer.  The beer was very sweet, but not obnoxious.  It was STILL trying to be beer, not a meal -- however, it did trigger something in our nuerotransmitters that made Melissa and I absolutely crave sausage links with mustard -- so we talked about that for a while.  Then we talked about other food because this shit was making us hungry.  So, we ordered a delivery pizza.

In case you were wondering about the unlikely connection between Rogue Brewing and Voodoo Doughnuts -- well its not unlikely at all, given that both of these companies are rooted in the Portland, Oregon metro area, and two of the most innovative consumables companies in the PacNW.  In fact, Anthony Bordain covered this in one of the best No Reservations to date, when he toured the doughnut palace with author Chuck Palahniuk.  (Skip to 2:20)

So, would I seek out Rogue's Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale again?  Entirely.  I plan to seek it as much as possible, and hopefully aging one to see how the flavors marry over time.  I really did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did, and apparently doing so will cost me the price of a pizza as well.

ABV: 5.6%
Acquired: Spec's
★★★★★★★★☆☆