Rogue Beard Beer

Lore & Background

Rogue set out to find a local wild yeast to complement the locally sourced hops and grains used in their other ales, aiming to increase the terroir of the finished product. Unsuitable samples were taken from various places, including the company's hopyard in Independence, Oregon, before the brewmaster's beard was tried. Analysis of the yeast cultivated from Maier's beard showed that it was a new strain, perhaps a hybrid incorporating genes from Rogue's house yeast called 'Pacman'.

Following media coverage in 2012, the beer went on sale on April 1, 2013. When reporting on the introduction of the beer in 2013, The Oregonian originally stated that the Huffington Post had been taken in by an April Fools' Day joke, but the Oregonian writer was contacted by a Rogue employee and reported a few days later that it was not a joke. During development, the beer's working name was New Crustacean.

Beverages produced with local American native yeast are collectively known as the American wild ale style, of which Beard Beer is an example. Other American breweries have been successful in developing lines of brewer's yeast from local wild sources, including Dogfish Head Brewery (cultivated from skins of Delaware peaches), Lost Rhino Brewing (captured at Janelia Farm), Mystic Brewing (Massachusetts plums), and Linden Street Brewery (cultivated from San Francisco sourdough).

Reader's Guide

Rogue Beard Beer occupies a distinctive place in the American wild ale category as a beer whose yeast was sourced from a brewer's beard. Critical reception noted its flavor profile: Willamette Weeks described it as 'a sweet, bread-y American wild ale without much to distinguish it beyond a notable pineapple flavor.' The Baltimore Sun praised its 'smooth finish and citrus notes,' while xoJanes found it 'sweet and bready and kinda pineapple-y,' reminiscent of a Belgian single. Flavor 574 described the beer as having a funky flavor. Details magazine included it on their 'Best Weird Brews of Summer' list in 2013, and Gayot Guides listed it among its top ten weird beers, profiling it as 'reminiscent of a Belgian saison, with a hazy orangish hue and flavors of bready malt, spicy peppercorn, tropical mango, passion fruit and pineapple.' Paste magazine listed it as 'really weird' alongside beers including pickle, meteorite dust, and scorpion. The Massachusetts Daily Collegian reviewed it at length, noting it 'meld[s] odors of smoke, olives and nebulously Belgian-influenced yeast... funky aromatic notes... initial citrusy sourness is balanced out by the fullness of toasted bread laced with a tangy sweetness... a simultaneously sour and sweet flavor complexion... traces of some distinctly Belgian elements... more closely aligned with saison and farmhouse ale styles.' Daniel Tapper from The Guardian called it 'the weirdest beer I've ever tried' and described it as containing notes of banana, passionfruit and pineapple. An article from The New Zealand Herald listed the beard hair used in Rogue Beard Beer as the number one strangest craft beer ingredient, ahead of other additions including cat feces and bull's testicles.

Did You Know?

• The yeast was cultured from nine beard hairs belonging to brewmaster John Maier.
• The beer's working name during development was New Crustacean.
• Analysis showed the yeast was a new strain, possibly a hybrid with Rogue's house yeast 'Pacman'.
• The New Zealand Herald ranked the beard hair ingredient as the strangest craft beer ingredient, ahead of cat feces and bull's testicles.