Captain Sig's Northwestern Ale - Rogue Brewing Company

http://www.rogue.com/beers/northwestern-ale.php

Rogue Brewing Company is one of the best micro-brewers in the United States.  They have a wide range of  beers with many different beer types, even crafting some of their own.  This beer type, India Red Ale, was not created by Rogue Brewing, but it is the most wide spread version of it.  This is my first time drinking this type of beer, so this will be a learning experience for the both of us.

Sight - This ale is very full headed beer.  This is the ale part of the beer.  It is amber and dark in nature.  You can really see where the 'red' part of this ale come in when you hold it up to a light.  Without drinking this ale, you can tell that this a mix between two different beers with the large head and the red color.

Smell - Wow.  With all the build up of from the sight from a slick amber ale, the 'Indian' part of this ale comes out in its smell.  The scent of a hoppy IPA come out in full force.  This beer just got complex from the difference in sight and smell, so the taste of it should be very interesting.

Taste - To begin, this is a very heavy beer. That fact right there is the simplest part of this beer.  First comes the bitterness from the hopes in the 'Indain' side of this ale.  It is not overwhelming, like an IPA, just a little bitterness to tingle the tongue.  This bitterness is swept away by the sweetness  as quick as possible.  Just as with the bitterness, the sweetness is slight. Then the sweetness goes away for a second wave of bitterness.   That is right.  A three wave beer, and a very tasty one at that.

Overall - This is a great beer.  It is dark, yet light.  Bitter and sweet.  This beer sets a high standard at the beginning, then exceeds them all throughout the enter drink.  It has a great price at around four dollars for a twenty - four oz. bottle.  The only problem with this beer is the contrast between the smell and the taste.  They are very different and do not work together for a truly amazing experience.  The smell is actually rather deceiving, following more of an IPA scent that does not show any sweetness that is in the beer.   

5 out of 5 cheers!