For starters, roasted does not = smoked. But plenty of good smokebeers come with full-on roasted tastes, plus I stumbled across the word smoke in reviews and descriptions of this beer, and even on The Roisters own label, so I brought it in for this review. So, if this review is a bit harsh and disagrees with your own personal preferences in beer, consider this review invalid and continue drinking whatever swill you are into.
Smells roasted and not smoked. Interesting beer. I’m not getting any strawberry flavors, or rhubarb, or lemon balm (whatever the hell that is), just flavors of a mildly different, bad beer. I’ll go along with lemon peel flavors… that has had all lemon flavor washed out and is left with pith and paraffin to taste. Smells a little like roasted ashy stomach acid. What’s the point of all these silly ingredients? At least at this point in time (mid 2016), these kinds of beers are selling like hotcakes, so I presume the risk is fairly low. But at some point (soon I hope) the consumer will demand something more than dry, bitter, acidic sensations draining your mouth of all moisture, and at that point I would like Pipeworks to deliver. One free point due to The Roister being in the category not a smokebeer. Overall score 2 out of 7.
| Brewer | Pipeworks |
| Beer Name | The Roister |
| Brewer’s Description | Beer made with rosated strawberries, rhubarb, and lemon balm. |
| Food Pairings | palate cleansers |
| Brewery Location | Chicago, IL |
| Alcohol content by volume | 6.5% |
| IBU (International Bitterness Units) | 60 |
| Beer opacity rate 1 – 7 (light – dark) | 2.2 |
| Smell smoke? 1 – 7 (No – George Burns) | 2 |
| Sausage detection? Y or N | N |
| Smokepower taste: 1 – 7 Smokestacks | 2 |
| Beer thickness 1-7 (water – used motor oil) | 2 |
| Overall Happiness: 1 – 7 (sad – happy) | 2 |
For a close up image of the label:
SmokeBeerMinistry 