A&E

Getting Good Head: Dark Beers for Dark Days

Note: This article is hosted here for archival purposes only. It does not necessarily represent the values of the Iron Warrior or Waterloo Engineering Society in the present day.

Well hello again friends. It’s that time of year again…Halloween. Unfortunately our last article was already Halloween themed (Nightmare on Mill St.), so the theme of this article will be somewhat of a stretch.

Eric isn’t here, so I’ll be writing this week’s article with Colin Macpherson, DJ Flynn Lives, and Megan Pollock, who once again isn’t drinking the same beer as us, but is allowed to stay for some reason.

As you may have noticed, the days are getting shorter. They start dark and get dark early, and with Daylight Savings coming up they’ll be getting even darker and earlier. As such, we will be using the theme of Darkness for this weeks column. This means that we will be drinking a rather dark porter called Rogue Chatoe Dirtoir. As Colin points out, they likely named the beer by trying to find a classier name  for dirt, which is kind of the same colour as the beer, which is very dark.

Rogue Chatoe Dirtoir is produced by Rogue Brewery located in Oregon, a state you may recognize from the game Oregon Trail (and as far as I know, that is the only interesting thing about Oregon). The beer is a Black Lager, which is rather deceptive seeing as it looks and smells very much like a coffee porter. Black lagers have the rich chocolatey taste of porters, are generally lighter, but still quite rich.

The beer itself comes with a nice foamy, light brown head with a very strong and inviting coffee smell like a warm log cabin on a cold winter’s eve. The beer is has a very, very dark brown colour to it with a light brown layer of residual foam on top. The beer is very rich, with strong coffee and chocolate flavours. There is a nice and light hoppy aftertaste which lingers for a short while. The beer is very smooth considering how dark it is, going down very easily.

Much like last week, we will once again give the floor to those who assisted in drinking this lovely brew.

Kent says: “Very rich but not overly so. *Hair flip*. Full bodied and very flavourful. Slightly bitter and hoppy aftertaste. Not as heavy as it looks. *Hair Flip*.”

Colin says: “The beer is rich, dark and chocolatey, like coffee.” He also had a lot more to say, but I also didn’t write it down because Colin talks a lot.

Megan says: “I like it. (Even though she isn’t drinking it). Smells like coffee on crack (which probably isn’t valid). After a few glasses even Graeme looks good. I play instruments.” Megan isn’t allowed in our articles anymore. Megan is also drinking Nightmare on Mill St now, which she didn’t drink last time. And she likes it. Moral of the story, our recommendations are very good.

On the whole, I would give this beer 4.5/5 Surly Bartenders. It is very, very tasty, and is definitely one of the best dark beers I’ve drank. It is very smooth, but also very flavourful with an enjoyable after taste. The picture on my glass is also of a pirate, which is fun.

Next week we will discuss the best beer to drink during the upcoming NHL season (hint: the strength of the beer is related to whether or not the season stays locked out –  hinthint: it probably will).

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