The above image is not me, or Jim, because Jim is still on his long weekend. But it could be given the way I feel right now. I need a weekend to recover from my weekend. I, however, am back. So I have Total Blog Domination for the next two days! Mwahhaha! So what should I turn this blog into? Perhaps a deadly dining blog where I eat poisonous animals and bugs and stuff! (I’ve been watching entirely too much Andrew Zimmern). Or maybe I could do totally socially inappropriate stuff like video taping my self farting in elevators or teasing little kids. Oh, I know I could go Toupee shopping and blog about my exploits in fake man hair.
The possibilities are endless, but the bottom line is I pretty much like what we do here already, so I will probably just do some more of the same. But this was a LONG weekend for me and my wife. It started Friday morning, no check that it started for real on Wednesday with my wife buying and organizing picnic food for 21 hungry boys for 2 days worth of eating and drinking. Then, Thursday night we packed up all the dry goods and drinks in coolers and boxes. Then Friday morning at 6 am I took my son to Driver’s Ed then went home and proceeded to help my wife make about 35 sandwiches. We then put ice in the coolers and loaded the car, and headed to the High School Gym for our rendezvous with my son and his HS Basketball team. We were all headed to Declo, Idaho for a Summer Basketball Tournament. 8 games in 2 days!
So we loaded the car with 4 HS boys, my wife and I, and enough food to feed a family of four in Guatemala for a month (good thing we were sharing). After our three hour car ride in a driving rain storm we arrived at our destination. The boys played five games that day and went three and two. Then it was to the Hotel for Hot tubbing, XBoxing, and more eating! Kathy and I went out and picked up ten pizzas, fifteen double cheeze burgers and some breadsticks and sauce that the local Little Caesars threw in for free. They ate it all, and then went down to the snack bar and bought energy drinks and ice cream. It must have done the trick because the next day the went 3-0 finishing second overall in the tournament.
When we got back, Saturday night I had some pizza and a beer! Man did I need that. Unfortunately the beer wasn’t that great…
I had Bear Republic’s Red Rocket Ale. My beer guy snuck this into my basket when I wasn’t looking. I wouldn’t have bought this on my own because of the cheesy label, way too ’70s afternoon cartoonish for me. But it was cold and available so I drank it.
This is how Bear Republic’s web site describes the brew.
American Amber Ale
ABV: 6.8% IBU: 67 Color: Deep Copper Red
Red Rocket Ale is a bastardized Scottish style red ale that traces it’s origins to our homebrew roots. This full bodied and hoppy brew finishes on the palate with sweet, caramel malt flavors.
It says it’s red, but I would say more brown. It was just ok. I’m not saying it was bad, but I might have been spoiled by the Old Chub I had last week. This was hoppy and a little watery, and all in all not overly crafty, just brown beer with a stupid label. It would be ok picnic beer, where you had a mix of people that were new to the craft beer scene. Perhaps this would make a good gateway beer.
Well we made it back and everyone seems to be in good spirits, and no big injuries, which is a big plus. Thank God the next two tournaments are closer to home and we don’t have to stay the night anywhere but in my brand new King Size bed! Ahhh…
-Don
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
See this one a lot and was always tempted to pick it up as I’ve tried their Big Black Bear stout (excellent, BTW) and Pete’s Brown (very good) – I guess they all can’t be winners, right?
I hear their Racer 5 IPA is very good. Don’t be turned off by this one bad experience – Bear Republic makes some decent beers. Glad you and your wife survived the weekend.
I have the others by me too Rob, so I will give them a try. This one wasn’t bad, but like I said, perhaps I was spoiled from the Old Chub. That was excellent.
I was reading about Red Rocket Ale on BeerAdvocate.com and the opinion of those that reviewed it was that it was a American red ale, not the Scottish style referred to on the bottle; completely different styles. Its tough to do but I always wait to read the bottle label until after I’ve tasted – this way I don’t get any preconceived ideas about what I’m drinking before I’m even drinking it. Glad you didn’t give up on trying their other beers.
On a side note, I bought a bottle of Elijah Craig 12 Year Old that you had recommended and had a taste last night – WOW, it was sooooo good. Can’t wait for the party that I will be serving it at this Saturday!
That is tough for me Rob, because I will read the bottle label in the store before i ever taste it. But I do think it is fair to judge a brew based upon claims that are made on the bottle. Think about it. If a car’s window sticker says it gets 25 MPG and you buy it and only get 22 MPG, you should be rightfully disappointed in its fuel economy. That doesn’t mean its a bad car, it might be the most reliable car you’ve ever owned, but it didn’t live up to its billing. It is the same thing for a beer label. If the brewer is going to put something on the label it should be judged by those claims.
Glad you liked the Elijah Craig 12. I think for its price it is tough to find a better crafted whiskey. How did you think it stood up to the Dead Guy Whiskey you had a couple weeks back?
Good point with the car anology – I agree with you 100%.
As for the Elijah comparison to Dead Guy, there is no comparison; the Elijah was more rounded and smooth and had a ton more flavor and the nose was much fuller (is that grammatically correct?). The Dead Guy is more of a boutique whiskey to me – the bottle looked cool and the name certainly has the appeal but for the price, I would never buy it as there are less expensive and better quality whiskeys out there.
I agree totally Rob. That said, I probably will buy a bottle of the Dead Guy at some point just to have it. I think you are correct, when you say the the Dead Guy is a boutique whiskey, because it just doesn’t seem serious. Their whole approach, the lack of aging, the reuse of barrels, etc. It seems pretty minor league, and like they are trying to rely on what my kids call its “Cool Factor” rather than well crafted, serious whiskey.
Racer 5 is much better than red rocket, Rob…not necessarily my style though.
Kudos to you being a family man Don…America (Guatemala too) needs more dads/husbands like you who spend time with their family.
When I see the Racer 5 I will give it a try. The Red Rocket wasn’t bad, it was just kind of Meh. I had a great time with the kids last weekend. It was a lot of fun and they really put on a great performance for all those lucky enough to attend.
Nate – I’m not much of a hop head so I shy away from IPA’s but read good things about Racer 5 so I’m willing to give it a try.
Gots to echo the other comments: great brewery, but this one beer is definitely a low point for them.
It’s amazing that my first experience with this brewery is universally regarded as their low spot. What are the chances? I’ll give the others a try to see if they redeem themselves in my eyes!
I steered away from these guys because of their silly labels, too, Don. But after my HE’BREW conversion, I learned you can’t judge a beer by it’s label, so I picked up something from Bear Republic. I have a Hop Rod Rye in the fridge which I need to get to at some point. I’ll do a full review and see if it’s a better beer that the Red Rocket.
Sounds good JIm. Lets see if they can now live up to the hype of our comment writers.