It’s a given. If you stay in the same place long enough, you’ll likely see the whole world come right back around to you. It seems that way to me, anyway, with the decision made by Oregon’s Rogue Ales to release their “XS” series of beers in 7-ounce “nip” bottles. Rogue maintains that the “XS” stands for “XSperience”, but in these tiny bottles, it might just as well stand for “eXtra Small”. I picked up such a diminutive bottle of Rogue XS Imperial Youngers Special Bitter not long ago.

Rogue made the decision to move this line of specialty releases from swing-top 750ml bottles to nips last year. That came as quite the surprise to me, since this packaging has met with criticism from Rogue fans in the past. I can recall almost 15 years ago discussions amongst beer geeks about the relative merit of such small servings; at 7 ounces, they offer just even less than a standard 12-ounce bottle. Let’s table that for now, however, and try the beer.

My bottle of Rogue XS Imperial Youngers Special Bitter says its brewed from “Crystal and Rogue Micro Barley Farm Risk™ malts, Cascade, Golding, Willamette & Rogue Micro Hopyard Revolution Hops; Free Range Coastal Water & Pacman Yeast.” The beer has a gravity of 17 Plato with 52 IBUs. Let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Rogue XS Imperial Younger’s Special Bitter pours to a cloudy amber color with a light, creamy head formation and a malty, bready, herbal hop nose. The palate is very chewy with lots of caramel, pleasant spicy undertones and some floral, herbal hops emerging. In the finish, they leave a lingering bitter buzz on the palate, thought this is by no means an overwhelmingly hoppy beer.

Decent enough, I think, and it’s called an imperial ESB beer, though Rogue does not indicate alcohol content (probably somewhere between 6.5% to 7% ABV I would guess). Honestly, this doesn’t strike me as so much of an “imperial” brew, and it definitely seems pricey at $3.99 for the nip bottle. $4.99 for a 22-ounce bottle might be more reasonable in my estimation.

And that, of course, brings us back to the whole nip bottle question. I’ve had lots of beers as good as or better than this one for a lot less money (Lagunitas, anyone?). I don’t mind paying for quality, but let’s look at what you’re paying for this one. $3.99 for 7 ounces breaks down to 57 cents per ounce. That’s like paying $6.84 for a 12-ounce bottle, or $41.04 for a six-pack. And while Rogue XS Imperial Younger’s Special Bitter is a good beer, it’s not that good.

I can only assume that the recent hikes in craft beer prices prompted Rogue to bring these bottles back. I still don’t like them, and while I would rate this beer at 4 stars on its own merits, the price here brings it down two notches for poor value. One thing’s for sure: at these serving sizes and prices nobody will soon be drinking a Rogue XS to excess.

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