Red Rocket Ale, Bear Republic Brewing, CA
May 22 '01
The Bottom Line An excellent brew, classed by the brewery as a "bastardized" Scottish ale". Well pronounced chocolate malt as well as strong hop finish. Very well-rounded and worth a try.
Located in Healdsburg, north of San Francisco the Bear Republic Brewing Company is a brewpub that certainly deserves a little attention. Established in 1991, the company is family-owned, the owner’s son is the brewmaster. Only two of their beers are offered year round, the Red Rocket and the IPA, with several seasonals.
Red Rocket Ale
At 6.8% ABV this is something of a strong ale, which the brewers describe as a “bastardized Scottish style red ale”. It’s also bottle-conditioned (live yeast sediment), something that results in some excellent very full-character ales. Referring to the term ‘bastardized’, it seems to me that the recipe is probably something derived unintentionally and as I discovered later, somewhat difficult to pin into one category.
Tasting Notes
Red Rocket has a fairly nice if not impressive pour. The body is an attractive deep crimson-brown color, clear but slightly thick looking. The beer pours slightly foamy with a thin beige creamy head.
The nose is very good with hints of nuttiness in a chocolate, toasty aroma. A fruity hopiness is the dominating aroma but does not do too much to disguise the malt. The palate is very smooth and creamy, and foams a little as you throw it around. There’s some light carbonation, while the body is medium to full. There’s an initial creamy malt flavor, with strong signs of caramel and chocolate mid-palate, followed by a pretty strong bitter finish that is fairly long in life.
Overall this is a very enjoyable beer. The label speaks of “an aggressive hop character”. That’s certainly true reminiscent of an IPA in the finish, but the chocolate malt is pretty strong too. This leads to an excellent mix of well pronounced flavors, resulting in a beer that is extremely well-balanced and rounded.
Food
Those of you who read my reviews regularly will now how seldom I recommend a food to go with beer. However on this occasion I did enjoy mine with a beef, sausage and jalapeno pizza. The two worked very well together, although after a while the jalapeno made the beer a little more difficult to judge, but certainly tied in well with the citric bitter finish.
The Verdict
I enjoyed this beer and definitely give it a recommendation. ‘Bastardized’ certainly is an adequate description as it’s definitely too hoppy and maybe a little too creamy to be a traditional Scottish ale. It will appeal to anyone who likes something similar to a brown ale, but also likes a hoppy bite. As a final note it works very well from the refrigerator, but the malt does develop as the beer warms. Just don't stick it in the refigerator too early or you'll kill the yeast. Rating: 4 Stars.
Awards
Silver Medal - Great American Beer Fest 1999
Bronze Certificate - California State Fair 1999
Gold Medal - California State Fair 1998
Gold Medal - California Small Brewer's Festival 1998
Silver Medal - Great American Beer Fest 1998
Bronze Medal - World Beer Championship 1998
Silver Certificate & Bronze Medal - California State Fair 1997
Further Information
The Bear Republic website:
www.bearrepublic.com
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Epinions.com ID:
andaryl
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Member: Andrew Smith
Location: The Desert, So Cal
Reviews written: 219
Trusted by: 174 members
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