Tuesday Tasting: Rogue Brew 10,000

Tuesday Tasting is a regular feature of Lyke2Drink that explores some of the best beers, wines and spirits on the market. This week we try a beer that celebrates a brewing milestone for one of the Pacific Northwest's great microbreweries.

Rogue Brew 10,000 marks the 10,000th batch made over the course of 18 years by John Maier. It is one of the more expensive bottles of beer you will encounter. I've seen it at a couple of retailers for $20 and the bottle I split with a friend was at the Flying Saucer in Raleigh, N.C., for $32 for a 750 milliliter swing top ceramic bottle.

Marier uses Vienna, French Special Aroma and Maris Otter Pale Malts, with Yakima Summit and German Saphir Hops, and PacMan Yeast. The brew is 10 percent alcohol by volume. The beer is well put together, as you would expect from a Rogue beer. There was a nice hop aroma, with some hints of wildflowers and citrus. The beer was a nice dark bronze color and had a good amount of malt to balance it overall.

Is this a ground breaking beer from Rogue? Not really, given some of their other beers, including the John's Locker series. Is this beer worth $32, or even $20? If you are a Rogue fan, it is something you should try. Split the cost with friends to ease the bite. It is not the greatest Rogue ever, but as a salute to 18 years of great beers it is a nice way to mark a milestone.