From the New York Times, March 22, 1999
The newest beer of Rogue Ales sounds more aggressive than it is. Brutal Bitter is actually a full-bodies, deeply flavored, intensely hoppy brew.There is nothing brutal about the rich, deep, mellow taste. It's crackling but not sharp.
The brew master at Rogue, in Newport, Ore., is John Maier, nicknamed More Hops, and that is no understatement. Even so, the hops in his Brutal Bitter are emphatic in a full-throttled but never biting way.
This beer may raise eyebrows, but it won't pucker lips. The aftertaste is clean. The beer, a cross between a bitter and a pale ale, will be introduced in New York this week. It is amber in color and pours thickly, with a creamy, beige head that lingers. Try it with juicy red meats or with a corned beef or sliced steak sandwich.
Mr. Maier credits the mellowness partly to the gentle way the malts are treated: at the Beeston Malting Company in Nottinghamshire, England, the pipkin malts are raked and turned by people, not machines. He chose the hops for their subtlety as well.
"We're aggressive with the hops," he said. "But I used three hops which have a low bittering value, so you can use more and not get an upfront bitterness."
Brew masters have traditionally made new flavors to go with the seasons -- wheat beer for summer, stout for winter -- and to celebrate special occasions.
In Brutal Bitter's case, it was the 20th anniversary of the Horse Brass Pub in Portland, in 1996. The pub was the first in Portland to sell American microbrews like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Anchor Steam Beer on tap.
Or as Jack Joyce, the president of Rogue Ales, puts it, "The Horse Brass was the first outlet to put on draft a product nobody had heard of." Mr. Maier was only too happy to brew a beer to mark the day.
-- Elaine Louie
For information about the availability of Brutal Bitter around the country, the E-mail address is rogue@pstat.com