Unnamed Beer Segment: Post #1 Rogue's "Beard Beer"

[Started at night on 7/9/13, posted the next day]

I've recently recieved a job at a gourmet convenience store in Philadelphia with a fantastic beer selection, so I'm going to start posting at least once a week on something I've tried. Ratings will be on a 1 to 6 rating, 6 being best, and I'll just post some information on the beer, some photos, and all that other fun stuff. Has it been done before? Innumerably [that's a word, right?] but hey, everyone needs a hobby and I might as well give myself something to do at night after work. So exposition aside, first up is an especially novel brew out of Oregon that I believe is the perfect starting point for this, Rogue's "Beard Beer."
Upon looking up the beer on the company website, the only information that I could find was that it was brewed with a yeast culture found in the Brewmaster's beard. Yes, you read correctly, in...his...beard. So naturally I had to try it. This one was especially interesting to me because Iterya, who orders the beer for the store, told me that it's only available in Portland, Oregon and Philadelphia. For a week I was selling it and asking people what they thought and tonight I was finally able to get a bottle for myself. The first thing that struck me was of course the color. A gorgeous light brown, I say light brown because straw would be too light and this definitely has more than yellow in it, I would actually call it a nice "burnt sienna." After I took the photo I then gave it a smell, it smelled like good beer with a no nonsense but by no means boring "this is hops, grain, and yeast" smell, akin to a really good Marzen. When I tasted it the first thing I got was just a smoothness to it that you do not come across very often, and on the back a bit of breadiness with the wild yeast strains. Overall it was a very good and unique taste. The only thing I could think of was it tasted like an American IPA, but without the huge hop character and at only twenty something IBUs this is definitely not one for hop lovers. It was very good though and because the ABV is not posted on the bottle I'm assuming it's a session. Overall I'm giving it a 4.5:6, it was very very good and I'll get it again, but I wasn't floored by it.

[Note: ABV released on beer advocate is 5.6%]