When Rogue Ales sent me its two latest canned IPAs, Outta Line West Coast IPA and Batsquatch Hazy IPA, I had to comment on the label designs. Apparently that’s a thing of late. The Batsquatch design in particular just kind of lost me, partly because it’s cartoony/goofy and partly because it just doesn’t fit with anything else. To be fair, Rogue’s branding has always been somewhat offbeat and all-over-the-board, and there’s really no unified theme that runs through the various offerings (that I can discern, anyway). So it’s a good thing that the brewery makes pretty good beer.

The branding discussion is ongoing but I’ll put off deeper thoughts on it and Rogue for another day. As for the beer, here are my reviews of these two IPAs.

Outta Line West Coast IPA

A penguin with a jetpack, flying out from a line of otherwise-identical penguins crossing a snowy plain. I’m not sure what’s “West Coast” about that imagery but the can design is pleasing. As for this matter of West Coast IPA—to my mind, that designates an old-school style with a focus on bittering hops over flavor hops. It’s a term I associate with a style trend of a decade ago, because in recent years the emphasis in IPAs has shifted towards late-addition aroma and flavor hops and away from excessive bitterness.

Plus, it’s hard to talk about “West Coast” as a single style when there are so many variations between states and regions. Now all that having been said, I do think there are some IPA interpretations that move too far away from actual bitterness into overly fruity or muddled flavors that don’t balance the malt. This is not one of those beers, and here West Coast means a proper return to bitterness while balancing the newer late hopping trends.

The beer is 6.9% ABV and 66 IBUs, and brewed with Zeus, Mosaic, Simcoe and Rogue Farms Rebel hops.

Appearance: Golden orange color like honey, coppery with bright highlights when held to the light. Slight haze. Off-white head that’s creamy and lacy and very fine.

Smell: Citrus, pineapple, tropical. Brightly pungent, with some resin and spicy hops. Quite nice with the tropical fruit notes. Some sweet golden malts but the hops are the showcase.

Taste: Spicy and resiny hops up front with a moderate bitterness tempered by dandelion greens. Solid underlying malt showcasing a touch of sweet roll with some toffee(ish) graininess, cracker. Fresh wild greens with hint of menthol at the back.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with good carbonation and a bite of lingering hop spice.

Overall: Quite good for the “West Coast IPA” benchmark, enjoyable and nicely hoppy and bringing back some much-needed bitterness.

Batsquatch Hazy IPA

I’ve already said enough about the label on this beer. This embraces the hazy IPA trend in a different direction than the Outta Line, with 6.7% ABV and 45 IBUs, and uses Mosaic, El Dorado and Belma hops.

The term “batsquatch” isn’t a totally made-up one, either; it’s purportedly a “flying cryptid that was allegedly sighted near Mount St. Helens in the 1980s. It resembles a flying primate, similar to the Ahool and the Orang Bati of Southeast Asia, and its name is a portmanteau derived from the words “bat” and ‘Sasquatch.'” Of this beer and why it has this name, Rogue says:

For years, rumors have circled that deep in the woods on Mount St. Helens lives the fabled Batsquatch. While there are many tales of Batsquatch, they are all a bit hazy on the details, which makes the truth such a juicy mystery. So what better way to honor the elusive legend than with a hazy IPA? Perfect for camping and potentially making a new friend. This juicy, cloudy IPA features intense tropical flavors and aromas.

Appearance: Appropriately hazy and an orange-tinged gold in color, moderately opaque. The off-white head is big and fluffy, lacy and fine.

Smell: Juicy dose of tropical fruits though though that Mosaic family of hops still smells to me of green onions. To be fair, that oniony/garlic greens aroma is pretty mellow and while I can’t pick out individual fruit descriptors from it, I recognize they are there. Some Cream of Wheat cereal aroma as well.

Taste: Soft pillowy taste of wheat (and oats?) — the malt takes the forefront here and the hops move in after with a hazy light tea-like bitterness and herbal, grassy note at the back. There’s some lightly savory vegetable juice that I get, otherwise it’s not very hoppy.

Mouthfeel: Soft and mellow, medium-light body with a softly herbal finish.

Overall: As a hazy IPA, this is a pretty good wheat beer. There’s a fruity hop character but it’s soft against the creamy wheat base, and if I was blind tasting this I’d have guessed it was an American hefeweizen.