Because I’m feeling a bit spicy tonight, let’s drink some beer that’s flavored with sriracha.
Beers brewed and spiced with peppers is a fairly recent trend. Flavoring everything imaginable with sriracha is not. Sriracha is pretty much the pumpkin spice of condiments. In my personal opinion, there’s a very small window for pepper beers to be successful. The spice and the heat can complement the bitter hops well, or it can be a complete and utter flop. Just ask Drunk Female – she reviewed Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin and gave it a 0 out of 10. Though her rating scale is questionable at best, I completely understand where she’s coming from. I’m keeping an open mind with this Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout.
Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout is made with Huy Fong’s original hot chili sauce. Though you may not have known this, Huy Fong is the manufacturer of the sriracha sauce you are most familiar with – the one in the red bottle with a green cap and a rooster on the front. That Rogue Farms went with the real deal is what made me really curious about this beer. That, and the fact that the bottle looks exactly like the iconic Huy Fong sriracha bottle. I’m a sucker for attention to detail. This bottle made me want to pour the beer on some chicken, which made me crave beer-can chicken, which confirmed that I am fat.
The first thing I noticed about this Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout is how light its body is. The mouthfeel is very thin, something I don’t normally prefer in my stouts. The lead flavor is, not surprisingly, chile peppers. The pepper flavor isn’t anywhere as nuanced as sriracha. While I won’t say I love it, I will say I hate it. What’s worse is the peppers pretty much kill all the other nodes in this stout instead of complementing them.
If you really try to pinpoint it, you’ll get the faintest chocolate and coffee nodes with this stout. But they’re immediately overpowered by generic chile pepper flavor. There’s a bit of a vinegary taste here, which is not something you’re going to love out of your beer. I hated this more and more as I continued to drink it. The heat does linger, so I guess this stout has that much going for it. It’s not appropriately priced at $12.99; you’re simply paying for a gimmick. This beer pairs well with my miserable existence.
If you know me well enough by now, you know exactly what happens next:
I dumped an embarrassing amount of sriracha into my Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout. And you know what? It was terrible and garlicky and I hated it and it was a dumb idea. The only thing this did for me is make me want Thai food and a different beer.
What the Hell Am I Doing With My Life Rating: 8.5 out of 10
How Good Garlic & Vinegar Tastes In Beer Rating: 2 out of 10
Overall Rating: 3 out of 10
