Red Rocket Ale - Bear Republic Brewing Co.

clemtig76

South Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz brown bottle picked up at the Charleston Beer Exchange. Cool Buck Rogers style retro rocket on the label. Pours a dark reddish brown with a thin off white head with little lacing. The smell is of deep roasted malt and caramel with a nice hoppy aroma. The taste was smooth and malty with hints of brown sugar and spicy hops in the finish. This one is a keeper.

Serving type: bottle

01-22-2009 03:09:12 | More by clemtig76

jondeelee

Massachusetts

3.98/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Red Rocket Ale opens to a sugary, hoppy nose, immediately presenting a nice balance of aromas. The hops predominantly bring pink grapefruit, with lighter notes of grapefruit rind and pine, as well as faint hints of bitter dandelion stem. The sugars add a sweet assortment of Jolly Rancher-potent fruit esters, including lots of berries, as well as cherry, orange, and apricot, as well as brown sugar, candi sugar, and even hints of super sweet confectioner’s sugar. Small touches of biscuit, whole wheat dough, and Grape Nuts cereal help earth the beer, but the emphasis is obviously on sweetness, even the hops geared heavily towards sugary citrus aromas. The overall effect is very nice, the sugars quite potent and aromatic, and present in enough strength that the bottle’s open mouth is sticky. This is made all the more impressive because of the beer’s relatively low 6.8% ABV, which usually results in a dearth of sugary notes. There is, perhaps, a bit too much sugar in the nose, however, and the hops could have used a larger presence. Still, the overall effect, candy-like as it is, is compelling.

On the tongue, the beer is far more hoppy than the nose let on, and the hops are not sweet, but bitter and oily, with grapefruit rind, pine resin, and lemon oil mixing with lighter dandelion stem, mint, and anise notes. The result is strong enough to somewhat overpower the rest of the beer, which does still bring in a good amount of berry, orange, and peach fruit esters, as well as brown sugar, and a grainy wedge of toasted whole wheat bread and cereal grains. But here the emphasis in on hops, which are strong enough that in subsequent sips their lingering bitter presence tends to drown out even more of the sugars and breads. Even some of the more citrusy hop notes are lost over the course of a few sips, the beer ending up with large dandelion stem, anise, pine resin, and mint notes. The aftertaste is a continuation of these bitter hop notes. Mouthfeel is medium-light to medium, and carbonation is medium.

Overall, this is good beer, and hopheads can find pleasure in the nice selection of bitter, oily, resinous notes in here. But the beer does ultimately suffer because of the low ABV and the lack of sugars, with the hops simply overpowering everything else, making the beer seem imbalanced and in need of a lot more fruity, sugary notes.

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2013 15:54:26 | More by jondeelee

InspectorBob

New Jersey

4/5  rDev -2%

05-22-2013 15:27:16 | More by InspectorBob

bambam2517

Arizona

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%

05-22-2013 06:29:30 | More by bambam2517

jakecattleco

California

4.5/5  rDev +10.3%

05-21-2013 17:53:03 | More by jakecattleco

jbeervt

Vermont

4/5  rDev -2%

05-19-2013 16:37:22 | More by jbeervt

ejimhof

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -14.2%

05-18-2013 16:29:02 | More by ejimhof

JoeLacy

Ohio

4/5  rDev -2%

05-18-2013 15:23:53 | More by JoeLacy

verge

California

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%

05-16-2013 21:46:44 | More by verge

ToriBug13

California

3.58/5  rDev -12.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Bear Republic Ricardo's Red Rocket Ale: Healdsburg, CA

ABV 6.8%, poured into a Sam Adams glass

-Appearance: Dark amber/brown, thick head, excellent head retention.

-Aroma: Sweet malt, faint piney hops.

-Taste and Mouthfeel: Coffee, _hint_ of caramel. Medium bodied, good carbonation. Definitely tasted the piney hops, but they didn't overwhelm the malt. Definitely a malt- forward beer. Though I'm not a major fan of coffee, it was a manageable and balanced coffee flavor. Got a little sweeter as it warmed, which cut the coffee well. I might have scored this a little lower because of that coffee, but I'd also like to think I was more unbiased than that.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2013 23:13:06 | More by ToriBug13

aty11b

Texas

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%

05-14-2013 01:06:13 | More by aty11b

KStark

British Columbia (Canada)

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%

05-13-2013 14:19:09 | More by KStark

rolltide8425

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -2%

05-13-2013 00:22:15 | More by rolltide8425

rydev24

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%

05-12-2013 22:37:19 | More by rydev24

BigOldOaf

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -8.1%

05-12-2013 00:49:35 | More by BigOldOaf

Conceptuallogic

New York

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%

05-10-2013 17:15:13 | More by Conceptuallogic

krisbee

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%

05-10-2013 03:24:00 | More by krisbee

waddellc2

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -8.1%

05-08-2013 20:10:57 | More by waddellc2

Erice78

Florida

4/5  rDev -2%

05-07-2013 22:18:36 | More by Erice78

Beerswag

California

3.5/5  rDev -14.2%

05-07-2013 07:22:58 | More by Beerswag

CDCNAM

Louisiana

3.5/5  rDev -14.2%

05-07-2013 03:19:01 | More by CDCNAM

bobhits

Kentucky

2.94/5  rDev -27.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75

Red rocket falls into that poor mix of sweet and hoppy where the mix is too caramel and bread without a distinct a well made hop character to mix. The end result is too common, over done, and not exciting to start with.

This is a good looking beer, well carbonated, good lacing, nice body. It smells like a red/scotch ale without too much hop character but without the overly sweet notes either.

Scotch ale malt, crackers, bread, floral hops, and caramel, maybe even a hint of toffee.

I wouldn't call this easy to drink nor hard to. It's nice enough I guess.

In the end this is ok to good beer. I think it has some strong points but I just don't get the high ratings. It isn't a perfect example of a style (an awful reason to score a beer highly imo but I get it) or unique and special, or you know....just an amazing beer (a good reason to score highly).

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2013 21:57:13 | More by bobhits

Jtrigonis

California

4.75/5  rDev +16.4%

05-04-2013 02:30:36 | More by Jtrigonis

MarvinSnyder

West Virginia

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%

05-03-2013 18:38:59 | More by MarvinSnyder

His_Royal_Hoppiness

United Kingdom (England)

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%

05-01-2013 15:44:55 | More by His_Royal_Hoppiness