Red Rocket Ale

Beer Name: Red Rocket Ale
Brewery: Bear Republic Brewing Co.
ABV: 6.8%
Serving method: 22-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on:

Bear Republic refers to this beer as a "bastardized Scottish style red ale" on the bottle, but as an amber ale on their website. Eh, whatever. They can call it whatever they'd like as far as I'm concerned, since it's their beer.

Red Rocket Ale is a dark amber beer. It poured with about a finger of head that faded slowly, leaving a moderate lacing pattern behind. The aroma of this beer is fantastic. There is a nice roasted sweetness coming from the malts, like a toasty caramel or toffee. It also has some hop aromas, probably just a few aromatic hops tossed in there for a little balance. I would wear this beer as a cologne, it smells so good. Well, probably not because that would be silly, but you get the idea.

The flavor here is good, but not quite as good as the aroma. This is a fairly strong flavored beer, with a whole lot of malt flavors dominating. There are some hops in there as well, but they only come through as a lightly bitter finish. The beer lingers slightly with a caramel aftertaste in the middle of my tongue.

Final thought - I enjoyed this beer, although you have to prepare yourself for an assault on your tongue. It makes a good sipping beer.

-Jon

Racer 5

Beer Name: Racer 5 IPA
Brewery: Bear Republic Brewing Company
ABV: 7%
Serving method: 22-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

People have been recommending this beer to me for a long time, and, as usual, that has caused me to avoid it. Don't tell me what to do!!

Racer 5 is a golden colored beer, slightly darker than what is generally characterized as dark. It poured with a big fat head, nice and thick, and it faded slowly, leaving a very heavy lacing pattern behind. There's a nice hop aroma here, mixed with some sweetness. It smells mostly piney, and there's some maltiness in there as well.

The taste is as advertised by the aroma. It's nice and hoppy, with some sweetness to keep things balanced. Piney flavors are upfront, with the sweetness following. Each sip ends with a little bit of bitterness in the form of citrusy hop flavors, and it finishes slightly dry. The finish is mostly clean, with a little bit of a bitter flavor that hangs on briefly. The bottle suggested a serving temperature of 45º - 50º, so I let it warm up for a few minutes before I drank it. That seemed to let the malts come through a bit more, so keep that it mind if you're interested in a more malty experience.

Final thought - Despite the major build-up, which usually results in my being disappointed with the beers, this one lives up to its reputation. Anyone that's a fan of IPAs needs to add this one to their "To Drink" list if they haven't had it already. I can't be the only one that walks around with a list of beers to try on my phone, right?

-Jon

NorCal

Beer Name: NorCal Ale
Brewery: Bear Republic Brewing Company
ABV: 4.5%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

The NorCal Ale is something of a hybrid beer, with characteristics of a bitter and a pale ale. I decided to put it in the pale ale category because it tasted more like that than like a bitter.

This beer has a coppery amber color with a head less than half an inch. Most of it fades pretty quickly, but the last eighth of an inch or so hangs on for dear life. It also leaves a ridiculously thick lacing pattern on the glass. The beer has a very mild hop aroma.

Hey! I know this flavor! This beer is like an IPA, only a bit milder. It's got the hoppiness that you'd expect, just dialed back a little. There's also a little bit of sweetness. There's a little bit of carbonation, and the beer has a mild bitterness in the aftertaste.

Final thought - NorCal Ale is a very tasty beer. I think even someone who doesn't enjoy hoppy beers might like it. Or someone who likes hoppy beers but wants to have something a little more mild. Delicious!

-Jon

Big Bear Black Stout

Beer Name: Big Bear Black Stout
Brewery: Bear Republic Brewing Company
ABV: 8.1%
Serving method: 22-oz bottle served in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

This is another beer that I picked strictly based on its label. Come on! It has a bear on it! How can I turn down bear beer? This bear wasn't doing anything funny, but still. Bear beer!

The Big Bear Black Stout is also super dark, but I don't think it's as dark as the milk stout from a couple days ago. This one has a lot more head, and it leaves a little foam layer after most of the rest of it disappears. There's also a fairly detailed lacing pattern on the glass. The aroma is a combination of roasted malt and faint hops. I think there might also be a coffee scent deep underneath as well.

This is a unique stout. It has the roasted flavor of malt that you normally expect, but there is a hoppiness to it that is unexpected. Delightfully unexpected, I would say. There's also a light coffee flavor. Despite being over 8%, it doesn't taste extremely strong. I can imagine that being a problem because this beer is easily drinkable and could result in brownouts, blackouts or loss of pants if you're not careful. The beer is more carbonated than most stouts I've had as well, but it's an ok amount. There is a slightly sweet aftertaste as well.

Final thought - I like it! I think this would be a good stout for people who don't usually like stouts. The hops change up the normal flavor, so it's like a gateway stout. And it's got a bear! Done deal.

-Jon