Hereford & Hops Hop Rocket Ale

Brewed by Hereford & Hops Restaurant & Brew Pub
Style: Amber Ale
Escanaba, Michigan USA

On tap. Great hop aroma, orange peel and grapefruit, sweet brown sugar malt. Deep amber-orange clear with off-white foamy laing head. Medium waery body with light carbonation. Starts with mild sweet maltiness and fruity fresh hops. Dies away quickly to a medium chalky bitterness and tongue-coating dry nutty after.

Pours amber red with very little head. Sweet maltiness and some floral hops in the nose. A well-balanced beer. Sweet malt, maybe some caramel and the bitter hop flavor doesn’t really make itself known until the finish, which is kind of a citrus bitterness.

On draught at the brewpub in Wausau, Wisconsin. Pours a clear copper penny amber brew with a creamy white head that has good retention and thick lacing. Aroma of light white bread malt, some herbs and plenty of grapefruit zest with piney hops. Taste is medium bodied, light carbonation with strong citrus/pine flavors that over-powers any malt flavors. Finish is quite bitter, with a lingering grapefruit zest aftertaste that makes this more like an IPA than an American Pale Ale.

On tap at the Wausau brewpub on 6/24/07: Pours a transparent copper with a well-lacing clingy white head. Lightly caramely sweet nose has some light piny hop presence. Body starts fairly full and mildly sweet with some toasted malt toward a drier, more bitter earthy hop finish. Could use some fresher more abundant aroma hops and a touch more sweetness.

On tap in Wausau. Clear light brown color with lots of grapefruit citrus hops on the nose. Similar flavor profile but with a refreshing bitterness.

Name: Hop Rocket
Date: 06/24/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub

clear dark amber, dense cream head, solid lace, sweet citrus aroma, creamy body, rich hop flavor on a sweet caramel malt base, perfect balance between the hops and the malt, light bitterness adds to the ballance but does not detract from the hop flavor, lasting tasty bitter finish

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Sampled on draft at the Cranberry PA location this beer poured a bright red-amber color with a small khaki head. The aroma was lightly sweet and fruity but rather faint. The flavor was sour and nutty with a harsh floral and dry fruity hop presence. There was a light body.

On tap at the restaurant/brewpub in Escanaba. Awesome that they can measure the ABV to a hundredth of a percent...anyway, deep, murky orange-brown body with strong carbonation, medium buff head. Spicy, floral hops aroma, light at serving temperature. Full, piney, floral hops body with strong hoppy bite, backed by dry caramely and toasty malts. A bit citrusy. A fair offering. This was listed as the "Hop Rocket Pale Ale," not Amber Ale.