Son of a Peach with a Pit

Hey brew lovers!  We're back with another iteration of Good Brew Hunting.  Our schedule is set and ready for new posts at least once a week so make sure to stay on top of us as the weeks go by.

This weeks review hails from the RJ Rockers brewery from Spartansburg, South Carolina.  If I rated beers on websites alone, RJ Rockers gets high marks for both website design and content.  I won't steal their thunder, but I highly recommend visiting the RJ Rockers website and perusing their various tabs.  I was really intrigued by their focus on sustainability.  The best beers are represented by wholesome natural ingredients and it seems like RJ Rockers really has an appreciation for the craft.  Now for the beer!

Today's selection is RJ Rockers's Son of a Peach American wheat ale, a Gold Medal winner at the Los Angeles International Commercial Beer Competition in the Fruit Wheat Beer category.  As is the case with their website, RJ Rockers deserves high marks for their bottle/label design.  That peach sure looks like an angry S.O.B. and it would really stand out when stacked aside an aisle of craft beer selections.

(Sorry about these angled photos, must have been that East Coast earthquake tilting my equilibrium!)

I was impressed when I popped the top of this brew.  The color of the beer in this picture really doesn't do it full justice.  It had a fleshier tone, dare I say closer to a peach color.  I was thrown off a bit by the amount of sediment I saw but I wasn't completely surprised.  A bit of sediment in an American wheat ale isn't all that strange, but it is something you will notice when pouring.  The aroma tempted me with the peach fruit ale I was promised on this label.  It had a wonderful sweet peach smell that was really more reminiscent of a dessert than just the fruit itself.

The taste...left something to be desired.  Maybe it was the smell that had me expecting more from this brew.  It certainly was complex, but I'm not sure it was complex in a good way.  It was a light beer and was certainly more of an American wheat ale than anything else.  Granted, that's exactly how it's sold on the bottle.  When you smell that aroma though you will most likely get stumped by the actual taste.  It just doesn't carry over the sweetness I would've expected.  There really is very little fruit flavor inside the beer but definitely had the light but noticeable aftertaste of a white or wheat beer.

This beer is going to get a US PINTRS rating.  It's a light summer beer that will appeal to the general mass, but I felt like this was a missed opportunity.  RJ Rockers had the chance to really make a fusion beer with very positive complex flavors working and it just didn't happen.  It's like an unripened peach;  refreshing but not nearly as good as it could be.  I look forward to more beers from this brewery thought as they have the right mentality for an American craft brewery that's sure to breed success.

120 Pulls a 1080

We've talked about Dogfish Head brewery before.  They've been able to establish themselves as a US-wide high quality craft brewery that happens to have a few alehouses (where I highly recommend sitting down and grabbing a bite with your brew).  They have a few of what they call "Occasional Varieties" in their beer selection.  The one we're tasting today is the 120 Minute IPA.  I highly recommend checking out the Dogfish Head video regarding 120 Minute IPA.

The labels from Dogfish Head are well done and each of their selections stand out well against each other. There's still not much style to the outside of the bottle, but it speaks of an gentlemanly elegance.  Does what's in the bottle match up?

You'll see I poured in a pilsner-like glass, which I knew was not for this beer's ilk. But I like continuity and you can see the fullness of the beer when stood up within this glass. If a beer could pour like molasses this one would have.  There was a syrupy-thickness to the pour which was further emphasized by the overpowering aroma as the beer was poured out.  The smell of this IPA permeated throughout my bedroom with a pungent, malty alcohol wafer that's sure to intimidate.  On to the taste.

And what a first taste it was.  If we're talking about beers who can TKO just about any other beer, this is it. There's nothing really like this beer, and you can tell from it's strength just how much an impact being aged a whole month with whole-leaf hops has.  My palate felt like this was a beer that had nuzzled up with a warm whiskey barrel and comes out wanting to show the kinds of mountains beers can climb. Syrupy, sticky sweetness which sits in your mouth (and a slap of hardcore alcohol which warms the blood) on every taste.

After a few sips, I switched the glass.  My glass selection is somewhat lacking but this particular martini glass worked great as I was able to keep the beer at just the right cold temperature I wanted. My recommendation? Find this beer, buy it, and age it a little more too. I love this beer as an after dinner drink.  Drinking this in a nice snifter glass, 120 Minute IPA belongs rick with that high backed dark leather chair with an ABV that can light it's own pipe. Complicated brilliance in a bottle, this commands a Scottish PINTRS score.  Be warned, this beer will kick your ass and not feel bad about it.