Ah Rogue, you’ve done it again. You have a tasty beer indeed in Rogue Honey Kolsch, which seems to be an entry in your Rogue Farms collection of beers. This is as the label indicates a German style ale brewed with Rogue Farms hopyard honey. It used to come in a tall yellow Rogue Farms bottle, but it appears the packaging has changed a few times. The latest incarnation is a brown paper label adorned with a trio of busy-looking honeybees.

I’ve always been a fan of Rogue and so I snapped this right up when Is aw it. I do have a problem with the beer which we’ll talk about momentarily, but first I’ll let Rogue do some talking. On their website they this about the beer:

Situated just across from 40 acres of Rogue hops, 7,140,289 Rogue Farms bees are carefully kept and fed and the honey is uncapped, extracted, filtered and finally infused into a refreshing Honey Kolsch Ale.

They list the following ingredients:

10 Ingredients: Rogue Farms Dare™ and Risk™ Malts; Wheat, DextraPils & Aciduated Malts; Rogue Hopyard Honey & Wild Flower Honey; Alluvial Hops; Free Range Coastal Water and Kolsch #2 Yeast.

Rogue Farms Honey Kolsch has an alcohol content of 5% by volume with 26 IBUs. Total Wine sells it for $13.99 a six-pack, and that is the problem I was talking about. That’s far too high in my opinion for a 5% Kolsch style ale.

Rogue Honey Kolsch pours to a pale yellow color with a thick head of creamy foam and a soft malty and toasty honey nose. Taking a sip, the beer is light and soft malty up front with delightful undertones that rich honey imparts. The beer finishes light and balanced, not sweet but not really hoppy either. A refreshing take on a classic German style, with the slight twist of local honey.

On its own merits, I would give Rogue Farms Honey Kolsch 4 stars. A half star demerit for the price, and overall I would have to say that for $14 a six-pack, it’s not a beer I would buy again.

Update 7/5/2018: Rogue ales are beers of the month! That's right, this July, four Rogue Ales are featured at Taco Mac, and you get a free glass with purchase on Thursday nights (while supplies last). When I had this beer in the bottle, I wasn't happy about the price, but on draft it's not so expensive compared to other beers these days, and hey, tonight's glass is totally cool. I'm changing this one to a beer I would buy again, on draft if not in the bottle, as it is very tasty with a little honey, a little toast, a little vanilla, and a little bit of a flowery finish. $6.50 a pint is a little above average these days, but not when you're getting a glass like this with it.

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