Beer Review: Red Raccoon
My first stop this Thursday evening was Rock Bottom Brewery in downtown Milwaukee. My friends and I wanted to partake in a little late dinner before unleashing ourselves on the downtown Milwaukee bar scene. I ordered a Red Raccoon beer with my burger. It's a tap brew at Rock Bottom (which has its own beers brewed on site). It has a nice, cherry red color to it. It's a good looking red beer. There was a fairly hoppy aroma, but nothing that was too strong. This beer had a fairly typical "red beer" flavor with added light caramel tones. It finished fairly hoppy with a distinct bite.
The strange thing about this beer that all of the above observations were "pre-meal". Once my burger arrived, I found that the flavors of the Red Raccoon were stronger and more distinct. That identifiable red beer flavor was more pronounced as it passed over my tongue. The hoppy bite in the finish was even stronger. Something about adding food took what was an "average to decent" beer to "satisfying". The Red Raccoon on its own is an okay but forgettable beer. Combining it with food heightened the flavors. The poor service (where the hell was our waitress?!) does make me skeptical about returning to Rock Bottom. However, the craving for a decent late burger is enough to get me to make an appearance. I'd say that the Red Raccoon was a decent but not incredible beer.
The strange thing about this beer that all of the above observations were "pre-meal". Once my burger arrived, I found that the flavors of the Red Raccoon were stronger and more distinct. That identifiable red beer flavor was more pronounced as it passed over my tongue. The hoppy bite in the finish was even stronger. Something about adding food took what was an "average to decent" beer to "satisfying". The Red Raccoon on its own is an okay but forgettable beer. Combining it with food heightened the flavors. The poor service (where the hell was our waitress?!) does make me skeptical about returning to Rock Bottom. However, the craving for a decent late burger is enough to get me to make an appearance. I'd say that the Red Raccoon was a decent but not incredible beer.
