If the phrase “resinous hoppy notes” kickstarts your salivary glands, Rogue has been working on something you’ll appreciate. Colossal Claude is the Oregnonian brewing company’s latest Imperial IPA and it’ll stand alongside Dead Guy and Hazelnut Brown Nectar as a year-round offering. It also joins Batsquach as one more beer named in honor of Oregon’s collection of legendary cryptids. You’ve no doubt heard of Bigfoot. Colossal Claude is a little lesser-known.
Spotted mostly in the 1930s by fishermen and sightseers off the Oregon coast, Claude was said to be a hairy, camel-headed sea serpent measuring around 40 feet long. It dined on salmon and stole halibut straight off the lines, and Rogue’s (second ever) brewmaster Joel Shields is pretty sure the mythical beast is into hops. Which is why this beer is loaded with the fragrant cones. Crack a can and get a whiff of Northwest varieties like Chinook, Cascade, Citra, Strata and Belma.
While it may not make Oregon’s own Loch Ness resurface, Colossal Claude makes a fine IPA with intense and deep aromas you can sip while sharing tales of your own brushes with the paranormal.
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