Sorry about this being a week behind! State Patty’s Day here at Penn State really messed up my schedule. I had the following on tap at The Z Bar at the Deli last Wednesday, and it will be my selection for last week.
Rogue Brewing and myself were born during the same month (October 1988) and, like me, quickly moved somewhere else. They moved from Ashland, Oregon to Newport, OR and the rest is history. Rogue Brewing has developed an excited series of specialty beers called “John’s Locker Stock”. This series is only sent out on tap to 130 bars who are a part of the Rogue Ambassador program, and the Z Bar at the Deli in State College, PA is one of them. If you scroll below to see the picture, you can see a nice handout that came along with the beer, it reads:
Originally brewed and bottled for the 2001 National Craft Brewers Conference-a private bottling & release with no distribution. A second batch, Charlie Redux was brewed with very limited distribution. 2005 is the hat-trick batch, Charlie 1981 returns for a third time as part of John’s Locker Stock!
Charlie 1981 is an unfiltered strong ale, it exhibits massive bitterness and a firm malt backbone. Hedonistic! Brewed using Pale Malt, Munich and Crystal 40 malts, Horizon, Sterling and Amarillo Hops. Estimated measurements are: 18.2 degrees Plato (OG), 3.5 Degrees Plato (TG), 75 IBU’s, 8.5% ABV. Prost!
Charlie 1981 is named in honor of Charlie Papazian, president of the Association of Brewers, founder of the American Homebrewers Association and homebrewing guru. John Maier, Brewmaster for Rogue Ales, made his first batch of beer in 1981 using Papazian’s influential book “The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing.”
And now to my review. The pour from the tap results in a huge white head that takes off after the pour, overflowing over the top of the glass. Golden brown, almost orange in color. Subtle smell. Hoppy up front with a nice caramel malt backbone. Hop front taste but very balanced. Maltiness is present, but not dominant. Bit of a bitter and dry aftertaste. Light to medium bodied with a nice bite of carbonation. My only qualm is that it isn’t available elsewhere and more often!
