Best Bitter From Oregon to Atlanta: Summits Wayside
Jun 03 '02
The Bottom Line Another distinctive, delicious brew from Rogue.
The other day I dropped by one of my usual beer buying stores in search of a few brews to cool off the brutal heat we’ve been experiencing. The first thing I did, as is my custom, was to look for anything new. I found exactly that (well sort of) in the Rogue section. There before me was a 22 ounce bottle of Summits Wayside Cliff Hanger Ale. At first glance I mistook the bottle for something from the Summit Brewing Company of St. Paul, Minnesota (the logo is actually a bit similar), but as I further examined it I noticed the Rogue logo on the side.
Sounds good to me, I thought, so I bought it. As I left I recalled that Summits Wayside is actually a small chain of beer bars here in the Atlanta area. Formerly Taco Macs, they focus on pub grub and lots of brews. They have locations in Cumming, Snellville, and Sandy Springs. To be honest, I haven’t visited one yet. According to Rogue, Cliff Hanger Ale is brewed especially for Summits Wayside Tavern by Rogue Ales of Newport, Oregon.
It is not uncommon for a brewery to produce a special beer or ale for a bar or restaurant that requests same. What is less common is for the brewery in question to be so far away: Rogue is in Oregon, about as far from Georgia as you can get without leaving the continental US. The Taco Mac chain sells a wonderful Taco Mac ale that is brewed by Atlanta’s highly regarded Dogwood Brewery.
Another unusual thing about this beer is that it is bottled. Most (but not all) of the contract runs I’ve seen for taverns and restaurants are usually draft only. Rogue, however, has a very good presence here in Georgia and probably figured it could easily sell the beer in bottles. I see Rogue ales everywhere, even here in Rome where the selection is not all that great. It has a good draft presence too. I’m not sure why Rogue has targeted Georgia to the degree they have. I’m sure glad they did though.
OK, now for the beer itself. This is an English style bitter, if a more than slightly Americanized version of one. The first thing that hit my mind when I sipped was that this might be a variation on one of Rogue’s existing brews. I asked myself, “Self, don’t they already brew an English bitter?” Self looked at me curiously and replied, “Of course they do, “Younger’s Special Bitter”. So I grabbed myself by the hand and off we went to check out Rogue’s website.
We got there, and I surfed on by the big red stars and Soviet-era looking caricatures (has Rogue gone communist?) on to the beer offerings page. Here are some of the specs on Younger's:
12 Degrees Plato
IBU 35
Apparent attenuation 75
Lovibond 17
That’s exactly the same as for Cliff Hanger. They both use Crystal and two-row malts too, and are hopped with Willamettes and Kent Goldings. The one difference I see is that the Cliff Hanger uses Amarillo hops. The Youngers makes no mention of this.
So how does it taste? Absolutely delicious. Summit’s Wayside Cliff Hanger Ale pours to a dark orange color with a thick creamy head formation and a very fruity nose. The palate is nicely malty with more fruit, citric notes, toffee, biscuity malt and peppery hops throughout. The finish is pleasantly bitter and lingers on the tongue after sipping. There is a delicious balance of malt, hops, and yeast flavors here that is complex and appetizing.
I am not sure if this available outside of Georgia. Those of you who read my reviews and live in Georgia (you know who you are) are hereby ordered to go out and buy a bottle. It’s that good.
SIMILAR BEERS:
Youngers Special Bitter
EPINIONS CRITERIA:
Overall Rating: Five Stars
Beer Rating: A must - sensational
Weight: Medium Body
Flavor: Bitter
Complexity: Complex
Price: $3.49 per 22-ounce bottle
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