Miasmatic Review

I just hope it's not an ingredient.

Okay, I'll admit this is not the first time I've had this beer. The first time was about 9 years ago and it was awful. Figuring I've had a rash of good beers, and I know some of my readers love it when I drink something that is utter crap, I figured I'd give it a second chance. This week's beer is Dead Guy Ale by Rogue Ales Brewery in Newport, Oregon.

It comes in a 1 pint 6 oz bottle. The painted on label has a picture of a skeleton holding a mug sitting on a barrel with the brewery name on it. In an old English type script it has the name of the beer on a scrolling across the top. On the back there is a brief description of the beer.

This beer pours a slightly cloudy honey color. Light passes through it, but you can't clearly make out objects on the other side of a standard pint glass. When poured there is a 2-inch ivory colored head that quickly dissipates with decent lacing that fades after about 10 minutes.

It smells of both roasted and sweet malt with a slight scent of fruity hops. There is just a hint of alcohol to it. To be honest the smell is not the most enticing, but it doesn't turn one away. The flavor has a strong malt backbone to it with a nice hop finish. As the beer warms up it becomes kind of dry and the hops are more present. It tasted much better when it was cold right out of the fridge, as it warms up it looses it pleasantness. The after taste also gets stronger as the beer warms. When I started drinking it, it wasn't bad, I have about 4 ounces left and I'm not as anxious to take a sip.

It has a medium body that is a little rough in the mouth and sticky in the throat. It leaves a mild coating that can be distracting. It's a decent anytime beer, but nothing I'd go out of my way for. When I first had it, I hated this beer. I thought it was god-awful and it tasted like rubbing alcohol. I'm thinking I had a bad bottle the first time, it may have gone skunky. This is not as horrible of a beer as I had remembered it being.

I'm going to give this beer a rating of 5 out of 10.