Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar Ale

I came into this one with no real preconceptions but one whiff of the bottle and you're in no doubt as to what you're getting yourself in for.

Nuts. Hazelnuts. HAZELNUTS. Slightly disappointed with the lack of head but it could be the squealer.

Taste is pretty incredible - like some sort of hazelnut smoothy made from what is only beer if you are paying attention. Through the mouthfeel I kept expecting an edge of sort of metallic ground hops to come through and crash the smooth experience, but it's kept beautifully restrained with nuts and slight vanilla. This comes across as massively drinkable and would be a treat with any number of dessert foods too.

Sure enough it does have hazelnut extract added, it would seem impossible to achieve this traditionally even with the battallion of malts and crystal malts they've put in this one.

I'm torn as to how much of a gimmick this is and how much staying power it would have if you had easy access to it over time. Still, I'm not against it in the slightest. Purists be damned, this is unarguably bloody tasty beer and one of the best 'converting people to craft beer' weapons encountered to date. 8.5