Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Lemon Chiffon Crueller Ale

The Stats
Style: Fruit/Vegetable Beer
ABV: 6.90%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.34/5
- RateBeer: 3.02/5

Here is another entry into the Rogue/Voodoo Doughnut series. I wasn't to fond of the last offering by this team, but hey, you never know when something will unexpectedly please you. This beast combines the crueller, one of the more ridiculed doughnuts of our time, and fluffy, lemon-flavored chiffon. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts (hold your applause) that we aren't looking at genuine lemon here, but I'm willing to find out.

Pours a pretty-looking hazy orange reminiscent of quality IPA's. Produced about two fingers of an off-white, yellowish head.

I must admit the aroma is intriguing. The best thing I can compare it to is lemonade slush or Italian Ice. It's almost Shandy-like. On top of that is a buttery breadiness and a biscuit-esque quality. Honestly, to the beer's credit, if I had to imagine a liquified, lemon-filled doughnut, then this would be it.

I mentioned how the aroma reminded me of a lemon Shandy and it follows through on the taste. If you've had the Leinenkugel Summer Shandy, then this will be familiar, but noticeably sweeter. I guess the sweetness comes from the sugared crueller component, but it does add a certain depth (albeit slight) to this novelty of a beer. It finishes with nothing unpleasant, but the aftertaste does contain some generic macro beers flavors comparable to Coors Light or Bud Light.

Considering this is chock-full-of artificial lemons and sugary sweetness, it is not cloying at all. While slightly more full-bodied than your average lemon-flavored ale, it is slightly thin, but by no means watery. The generic, adjunct of a macro lager threw a wrench into this, but the beer was not hard to finish at all.

I went into this a hater, but it turned out to be not that bad. Is that really a compliment? Ehhhh, not really, but I will say this delivers exactly what it promises. It is a sweet, but not too sugary lemon ale and it didn't promise to be anything else. Yeah, yeah, there's no genuine flavors or any hint of a hop presence, but that's not why you buy this beer. This series is all about experimentation and finding the right combination of obscurity and while I would not go as far to call this a "Must Have" any day of the week, I did find myself enjoying this for what it was.

Rating
6.8/10