There haven’t been a lot of bocks dueled on the site thus far. For some reason the stores I frequent don’t have much to offer for this category. That’s hard for me to fathom since it’s one of the oldest, most traditional styles of beer out there, with roots going back to Germany in the 14th century. If over 700 years of tradition aren’t enough to get these beers on the shelf, I don’t know what is.
So I was pleased to recently find a Rogue Ales & Spirits Dead Guy Ale available for my dueling pleasure. Rogue is based in Oregon, and you can discover more about them on their website. Up against the Dead Guy Ale, I chose a seasonal offering from New Glarus Brewing in their Cabin Fever. Truth be told, this beer had been sitting in my fridge for several weeks, just waiting to find a partner. So let’s see how it went.
HopDuel Survey
| Better label | Rogue Dead Guy Ale |
| Better aroma | Rogue Dead Guy Ale |
| Better taste | Rogue Dead Guy Ale |
| Better finish | Rogue Dead Guy Ale |
| Winner | Rogue Dead Guy Ale |
Tell us about it
It’s a clean sweep for the Rogue Dead Guy Ale, which I found to be an excellent beer. A subtly fruity aroma with a rich amber color leads to immense flavors of caramel and barley. According to their website, they use a proprietary Pacman yeast in the brewing process, and it’s clear this Pacman was hopped up on power pellets. My only real complaint with the beer is the lacing didn’t hold up very well in the glass. So I missed out on my frothy, flavorful mustache, but I’m willing to overlook that and give them the win.
HopDuel 