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This week, I don't so much as have a review for you as a preview of sorts. See, every once in a while, I receive a package from some happy P.R. person looking to get me to write about their product. And usually I just skip over the stuff -- for example, no one wants to read about this grill brush that looks like an alien sex toy. (Or do they?) But someone got wise this time and sent me my favorite gift: beer. I opened this carefully packaged box last week and found a bottle of beautiful Rogue Double Dead Guy Ale inside -- a seasonal, specially packaged version of Rogue's ultrapopular Dead Guy Ale.
At first, I thought this limited-edition beer was much rarer than it actually is -- but in fact, you can grab a bottle of Double Dead Guy at Total Wine for around $15 a bottle. Still, I decided that instead of drinking my gifted bottle now, I would cellar it (as in age it) for a year before opening. Sure, I could buy another bottle to taste now, and maybe I will. But part of me wants to leave it a bit of a mystery and maybe just buy a bottle of the 2010 vintage when it comes out to compare my aged one to.
Anyhow, for now I'm pulling a few select reviews from BeerAdvocate to illustrate what the difference is between Rogue's regular Dead Guy, a malty German Maibock made with Pacman yeast, and the Double Dead Guy, a full-bodied amber full of fruit and chocolate notes.
SeattleAdam:
"Dead Guy is a great beer to bring to a BBQ and establish yourself above
the Coors Light drinkers... Double Dead Guy is something to enjoy slow
and sit inside and really... feel. If that's the right word. Great
after dinner beer to be enjoyed at night time with a good movie and a
good woman who knows good beer."
RedDiamond:
"It's tempting to think of Double Dead Guy as an imperial version of
Rogue's Dead Guy Ale, a quasi-maibock known for it iconic skeleton
sitting contemplatively on a beer cask. The two beers actually share
little in common materially aside from their use of Rogue's proprietary
Pacman yeast strain."
JetJohn:
"Is this a doppelbock? An Imperial Brown Ale? Or just a double Dead Guy
ale? Whatever it is, it's good, though not fantastic. Nice hops-malt
balance though a bit astringent in the summation. Another solid
offering from Rogue, and definitely worth a try."
Nixhecks:
"Hardly any hops, yet there is still enough bitterness to carry your
tastebuds out of a malt infested warzone and into safety...I wouldn't
call it balanced but I wouldn't say it is out-of-wack either."
Gehrig:
"Where Double Dead Guy Ale had me was with the mouthfeel. The impressive
malt-hop balance is fully realized in the texture. It's honestly easy
to forget that this is a dopplebock and not, say, a well-hopped IPA in
taste and especially texture. The oily hops provide ample viscosity,
while the malt encases everything in a smooth blanket. Tremendous."
Conclusion? Everyone had a very different idea of what this beer was and what it was supposed to be. Since it's actually quite different in style and flavor from Dead Guy, it's a tough beer to judge against it. I'll be picking up another bottle in the near future to give it a go. Until then, grab yourself some DDG at Total Wine before the 2009 vintage is all snatched up.
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