74. Bristol’s Red Rocket Pale Ale

From the label: “Lively, hoppy, crisp. Enjoy!”
Our response: “Not as hoppy as advertised.”

Bristol Brewing Company hails from Colorado Springs, CO, where they have been brewing in the land of Pikes Peak since 1994. Their mission is to “to make beer that called to mind three things: quality, purity, and sanity.”

Red Rocket Pale Ale has a bready, malty nose with light floral hop notes and a light lacy head that covers an orangish brown colored beer. Flavors start with a bready, biscuity front, with some hop bitterness up front that quickly disappears, but does return lightly at the end. It did appear a bit under hopped for the style, at least for an American-style pale ale; we liked the front half of the beer, but found the second half flatter and less inspiring. Decent body and crisp mouthfeel, but Red Rocket lacks hop presence—would be a good English-style pale ale with a more tangible bitter presence, as the bready biscuit front was enjoyable. Some of our comments could be due to age—we are unsure of the exact provenance of this beer, and so would be interested to try it again.

From the Bristol Brewing website: “Winner of the bronze medal at the 1996 World Beer Cup® in the American-style Pale Ale category, Red Rocket is lively and up front, with a malt-inspired body and a crisp finish. Its character comes from a blend of Perle, Willamette, and Cascade hops. Dry hopped with Cascade for a refreshing aroma.”

ABV: 5.2%

IBU: 28

Malts: 2 Row, Crystal, Vienna
Hops: Perle, Willamette, Cascade

(9/12/2009)