Indecision where it comes to selecting a good beer to drink is one of my faults. As I was, once again, ambling indecisively around the ValuMarket in the Mid City Mall's ample beer section I could see my friend's ire with my inability to make a decision grow. I slowly narrowed it to three choices and served the ball into her court about which one I should choose; a genius move on my part since she ended up selecting the Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar (and I fully take 75% of the credit for the selection).
This was a delicious beer from the first pour from it's big bottle. A beautiful brownish red color was one of the first things I noticed along with a sweet hazelnut aroma. This is a great brew for malt lovers, and they will enjoy themselves immensely as tastes of nuts, caramel, and chocolate sweep them into a malt nirvana. The scariest thing about this beer was that it kept getting tastier and tastier as it started to get slightly warmer (which makes sense since Beeradvocate.com suggests the serving temp to be between 45 & 50 degrees), and it only clocks in at 6.2% ABV; so it's not going to knock you on your butt until after you've indulged in a few (which you may since it's so easy to drink).
This is a highly rated brew by both Beeradvocate.com (they give it an A-) and Ratebeer.com (receiving a 98 out of 100), and I completely agree with the assessment of both. Beeradvocate.com suggests pairing this beer with BBQ, select cheeses (Camembert, Fontina, Asiago, Colby, & Parmesan), Chocolate, and beef. Using the word "Nectar" in it's name was an excellent decision by the marketing team at Rogue and they hit it right on the head. So let my lesson on indecision make your decision easier if you're faced with a choice of three beers and one happens to be Hazelnut Brown Nectar from Rogue.
