Sad news in the beer world today, as we get word that Rogue Ales co-founder Jack Joyce passed away May 27^th. He was 71. Joyce, a rogue himself if ever there was one, opened the brewery in Oregon at a time when success in the craft beer business was not quite so easy at is today, but soon made a name for Rogue Ales synonymous with flavor and quality.

I can remember moving to Georgia in 2001, and finding a relative dearth of quality beer, thanks mostly to the state’s alcohol limit on beer. At the time, you couldn’t legally make or sell beer stronger than 6% by volume in Georgia, which went a long way to limit choice here. Along with local Dogwood Brewing, Rogue Ales were a bright spot at the time, ubiquitous here in their many varieties both on draft and in bottles. Thanks Jack, for that.

Future beer historians will likely look back and see Jack Joyce as a true American beer pioneer, along with such notables as Fritz Maytag, Jim Koch, Jack McAuliffe and Ken Grossman. Here’s to you, Jack, a toast tonight to a legend, and what better beer than the eccentric Rogue Beard Beer towards that end?

One might say Rogue Beard Beer is marketed towards the current beard craze, and you would be partially correct. The beer is “dedicated to beards” after all. But if you look a little closer at the details of this beer you’ll see there’s a lot more to Beard Beer. From the bottle:

Beard Beer is brewed with a yeast created from Brewmaster John Maier’s beard. No need to freak out, brewers have used wild yeasts in beer making for centuries. John has had the same old growth beard since 1978 and for over 15,000 brews, so it is no great surprise that a natural yeast ideal for brewing was discovered in his beard.

When most people think of brewing with wild yeasts, Belgium comes to mind, and the Zenne Valley in particular. There, brewers eschew the normal sanitary regimen most breweries prize so highly in favor of dust and cobwebs, better to let the wild yeast grow and descend upon their brews. The notion, then, of yeast from a brewer’s beard does not seem so strange in that light. Of course, Rogue extracted and cultivated the yeast from John Maier's beard, so the process is not completely the same, but the spirit is.

Rogue Beard Beer has an alcohol content of 5.6% by volume and 25 IBUs. I paid $6.40 for a 22 ounce bottle at a local growler shop.

Rogue Beard Beer pours to a bright caramel color with a medium creamy head and a spicy yeast nose. Taking a sip the beer has some chewy caramel, fresh bread, and cotton candy notes along with biscuit malt up front. All this is followed by the real star, a yeasty, funky, spicy Brett-like spiciness. In the finish, the beer is slightly tart and sour, a bit citric, and balanced a bit by light hops.

You really do get the yeasty funk of a Belgian wild ale here, my friends. I’d give this one 4 stars for flavor, another half for originality and yet another for the reasonable price. It’s truly delicious, and like its name sake, Rogue Beard Beer will grow on you.

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