Rogue: Voodoo Doughnut Pretzel, Raspberry & Chocolate Ale

So, Rogue has done a few collaborations with Voodoo Doughnut, and I have tried all three. The most recent one, which I will be reviewing for you today, is Pretzel, Raspberry and Chocolate Ale.

Real men drink beer out of pink bottles

To start, the bottle is awesome. If you ask my girlfriend or check out my last post, you will probably think that the bottle is the only reason I bought it. You would mostly be right. I collect the cool bottles from beers I have tried and use them to decorate the top of my kitchen cabinets. The painted pink bottles with candy, pigs, Baron Samedi and voodoo dolls are just too much for me to pass up. I have tried the other two Rogue/Voodoo Doughnut Ales (Bacon Maple Ale and Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Banana Ale) and have not liked either of them. I also haven't been very impressed with anything else I have tried from them, except their barleywine (Old Crustacean). I really like that stuff!

This one was still not entirely impressive, but it was actually much better than I expected. Perhaps my expectations were set low enough that anything could have made me say so, but I think this one almost grabbed me. It just isn't quite right, though.

The color is a dark brown that looks almost black, unless you hold it up to the light. It looks like a porter; almost a stout. The head was fizzy and did not last very long.

The aroma definitely had some chocolate and raspberry to it. The fruit smell was almost candy-like and, when combined with the hint of chocolate, actually made me think of a tootsie roll pop. I really didn't smell any pretzel, which was a tad disappointing. I find that one of the most alluring aspects of anything pretzel related is the smell.


The body is light to medium and rather pleasing.

The first sip gave me about what I expected based on the aroma. There was some chocolate and raspberry to it, the raspberry still being a bit candy-like. It has a definite undertone of porter to it, though, and I actually do get a hint of pretzel. Not much, but it is there. The finish, however, has a lot of that candy-like flavor that I am not fond of. I don't want to scare anyone off who might like that flavor, though, so I will make the closest comparison to it that I can think of; Sam Adam's Cherry Wheat. In my opinion, it has the same candy-like flavor. I happen to know a lot of people who enjoy the cherry wheat, so, if you are one of those folks, maybe you should think about giving this one a try.

Overall, I actually don't mind this beer. This is pretty high praise coming from me, considering how I felt about the last two Rogue/Voodoo Doughnut ales. I am ashamed to say it, but I dumped a good portion of those bottles. I honestly just didn't find it drinkable. I will finish this one off. I would even be tempted to give this one another whirl down the road to see if my tastes change. It is definitely worth checking out for it's unique and novel blend of flavors and I think that the parallels it harbors with Sam Adams Cherry Wheat mean there are a lot of folks out there who might really enjoy it.