Straight from Kitchen Stadium - Rogue Morimoto Soba Ale (OR)

I wish Alton Brown could narrate me drinking this beer, telling me what I'm experiencing and the strangely intoxicating history and biology of it all. What we've got here is Rogue's Morimoto Soba Ale, a collaboration between the beautiful people of Rogue Brewing Company (Oregon) and Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto (Japan).

The beer is pretty unique in that in addition to the normal grains in beer, it adds soba, a popular Japanese grain typically used in the creation of noodles (comparable to udon). In this case however, Morimoto, in typical Iron Chef fashion, teamed up with Rogue roasted the soba "buckwheat" and added it to a light ale. According to Rogue's website, the beer has won several awards (in 2005-6) at the World Beer Championships, and Beer Advocate gives it a steady "B" rating. I personally picked it out, having never heard of it, at a local bar, primarily because I recognized the Morimoto name. Go figure.

Let's get to it, shall we? The beer pours to a pale amber with about a half inch of head, which recedes, but never fully. Light malts and a bit of nuttiness in terms of scent, but nothing too pungent. The taste is very light and a bit nutty at the finish. I've never had soba, but I'm being told that this beer tastes quite like it (oh, the many benefits of an East Asian Studies majoring roommate). Honestly, it reminded me a bit of Unibroue's Blanche de Chambly due to the lightness and dryness, although it did not have the same citrus taste and carbonation (that is relatively typical for Unibroue). As the bottle itself states, I picture this going well with lighter cuisine - fish especially - or perhaps lighter cheese and appetizers. The ABV is hardly an issue at 4.8%. Frankly the beer is light enough that even after a 22oz bottle, I still have room for more beer. Lucky me, those were my plans exactly.

I'm going to be unoriginal and agree with most of the people on Beer Advocate: this beer is about average as Rogue's brews come. However, it is great at one thing: hitting the spot. Something just clicked about this one (thus supporting my theory that Rogue is just amazing at making beer). I'd recommend trying it out!

Rogue Brewing: Morimoto Soba Ale - ***1/2 of ***** (3 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Image accessed at: www.rogue.com/beers/morimoto-soba-ale.php