Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer. Now there’s an interesting concept. It’s a beer that I’ve wanted to try for a while, actually, and recently ordered from the Rogue Online store. Full disclosure: I ended up getting the beer free, for all the details on Rogue’s generosity see my review of their Right Hand of Doom Ale.
Only recently did Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer start showing up on store shelves, including those in my area. As it did, opinions varied around the beer enthusiast community (most notably in that greatest of all online beer collectives, Honest Craft Beer Reviews) as to how these two great tastes might taste together. For my part, our own Red Rooster had sampled the beer months back and highly touted it, and that was enough for me to know I would enjoy it.
And why not? I love hot sauce. I love beer. I love beers made with chili peppers. So why not a Sriracha Stout? Sriracha has fast become one of my favorite hot sauces, and the one made by Huy Fong is the one I like best. And guess what? Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer is made with Huy Fong Sriracha sauce (the Rogue 750 ML bottle looks like a giant bottle of Huy Fong Sriracha sauce).
From the bottle label:
Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer, made from Huy Fong original hot chili sauce and sun ripened Rogue Farms ingredients, is ready to drink with soups, sauces, pasta, pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, chow mein, or anything you'd like to wash down with a spicy kick.
Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer isn’t overpowering in strength at 5.7% alcohol by volume. It has 55 IBUs and runs $12.99 a bottle on the Rogue website and in my local stores. Keep in mind this is a 750 ML bottle. The painted lable bottle says this beer is “Dedicated to the Rooster”.
Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer pours to a jet black color with a thick creamy tan head and a very inviting nose of chocolate, spice and garlic. Taking a sip, there is definitely heat in the palate right from the get go. Not too intense mind you, but enough to wake up your taste buds for sure. What I really like is that just like in Sriracha sauce you get a lot of garlic in the aroma and then the heat arrives on the palate.
The spicy pepper heat works nicely too with the chocolate roastiness, reminding me of a Lindt Chocolate Chili bar (with garlic). Still, Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout is garlicy in the palate as well, perhaps with more presence than the hot peppery notes. The beer is definitely spicy though, and I WANT spice in a hot pepper beer. Rogue delivers on that.
The beer is peppery at the last with lingering heat and roasted barley notes, more chocolate, and finally after the sip peppery notes dance over the tongue and linger in the mouth. If you’re not into spicy foods, this isn’t the beer for you. If you are, and you enjoy good beer, then Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout is a treat you should not miss. Rogue really hit a home run with this one, and it’s certainly one of the best beers I’ve had in quite some time. I would classify this as a chili beer since the spicy chili and garlic of Sriracha are most prominent a feature to me, although this is based on a solid stout. Rogue also does a Chipotle Ale that has always struck me as a bit light on the chili. Certainly, that’s not the case with Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout. Don’t miss it.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft