Thursday, May 13, 2010

Bear River Red Rocket Ale

Described as a bastardized Scotch Ale by brewer Bear Republic this one struck a chord with me.

It poured out a nice, clear, coppery red color with a large head. The title, "Red Rocket" had me expecting a red ale. My Brother brought this one with him for Man's Night this week so I didn't read the label until actually drinking the beer. The first sip had me thinking that this was one of the more odd red ales I've had. I've been loving Lagunitas' Censored and this tasted nothing like it. I was tasting a smoky flavor and an over done hops bitterness on the back end that for a red was odd. The normally sweet malty front end of a red was subdued as well. That was when I read the label and the description of a "bastardized Scotch ale" made total sense. It also made me like this beer a whole lot more.

IPA's and Scotch Ales are two of my favorite styles and Red Rocket seems to sort of blend the two successfully. The best parts of each style were one display in this Norcal brew. Smoky and not too sweet. Bitter, but not piny. I'll be trying some more from Bear Republic in the future I think. Maybe even their iconic Racer 5 IPA, though it seems like it's a cliche for some reason.

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