Red Rocket Ale
Bear Republic Brewing Co.

RB transfer

 

 

 

 

Pours a translucent reddish brown with a 1F head and moderate lacing.

Smells if spicy toasted malt.

Tastes of peaty smoky malt with a spicy wheat tanginess with molasses and caramel. Medium bitter finish.

Medium body and carbonation. Crisp dry mouthfeel.

This a very drinkable, well made old-school hops and malt beer. Think of it as a light wee heavy.

Bottle, 6.8% ABV, RBNAG 2009 in Vatlandsvåg. Beautiful reddish brown colour, low off-white head. Excellent aroma and flavour with vinous and oaky notes, also strong notes of American hops. Very good! ("Beer of the Gathering" for me.)

OMFG! How have I not reviewed this beer until now?!? If you are late to my party, I have a redhead fetish as a fellow redhead (excepting getting cheated on my hair). I have had more than my share of redheaded girlfriends & I still swear that the Navy cost me Linda Lou. A few more months with her & I might have finally won her over. Sadly, our 7-month deployment to PR in 1993 allowed her to wriggle off of the hook. 8=( I had a wonderful classmate at Pitt who went on to have a great post-grad experience at my urging at UWisco & is now a published poet ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51785411-luscious-struggle?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=7NqzpiqZQt&rank=1 ). Her nickname, not conferred by me, was "The Red Rocket" & I have drank this beer SO many times with her … Gifts as graduating seniors, at her wedding, as a wedding gift, ad nauseum. This was a purchase at the Friendly Greek long ago.

From the (admittedly ancient) Bottle: "Red Rocket Ale is a bastardized Scottish style red ale packed with distinctive flavors and an aggressive hop character rivaled by none. This unfiltered, bottle-conditioned [!] amber colored ale breaks all style molds."; "Brew Master Notes[:] Keep refrigerated, beer is perishable, real ale is alive, yeast is good, serve at 45 - 50 F".

Bottle-conditioned, eh?!? Vindication is mine! It's had ample time to mature so upon the
Pop!ping of the cap, a slow, gentle C-Line pour was the order of the day. It didn't generate much foam, but I did get a wee, tiny finger of foamy, soapy, rocky, tawny head for my efforts. It sank into a cap of wisps, leaving me wistful in its limited wake. Color was not "Red", but instead, Dark Brown to Very Dark Brown (SRM = > 27, < 34) with NE-quality clarity & mahogany highlights! 8=O Nose was predominantly malty, suggesting that the hops had fallen away, but with a trace of pine. Remember, this was "bottle-conditioned". Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, not quite creamy, but on the approach. Taste was malty, but do not take that to mean "sweet" in this instance. The yeast had dried it nicely to impart a warm nuttiness, like roasted chestnuts, or pecans and even almonds. Mmm. Carrie lights up every time that I present her with a bottle & now, I begin to understand why. If it is always bottle-conditioned, then do yourself a favor & set one aside. This was like a cross between a throwback-Amber of the early days of microbrewing (too sweet) to the modern micro-Ambers (very hop forward). It was no Luscious Struggle to drink this one. My aging had smoothed it nicely, leaving it semi-dry to dry. Again, I urge aging, if possible. YMMV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

More malt forward - caramel malt, not super bready, could use a little more hops to add some extra dimensions. Found it a little too washed out and bland