R.J. Rockers Patriot Pale Ale

Our American pale ale is aggressively hopped with Challenger and Cascade and has a sweet caramel finish. The flavor that launched RJ Rockers – and brewer Mark Johnsen’s personal fave.
6.0% abv

2.9

164 reviews

Spartanburg, United States

Community reviews

2.5 Bottle ... that broke around the lip when I cracked the crown. An oddly mellow beer after their Bell Ringer, which I found to be much more "APA" than this ... Patriot drinks more like a musty lager, maybe a hoppy fest beer. (#5014, 5/9/2013)

2.9 12oz bottle. Code on the bottle reads "06011". Hazy golden orange color. Lots of darker particles in the body. Good thin off-white head. Good lace. More musty, malt-forward aroma. Some vanilla. Doesn’t taste too fresh. Light bitter taste, but the odd musty sweetness stands out more. Medium-plus body. Smooth, lighter carbonation. Nice light tropical fruitiness. As it is, just OK. The taste suggests that this has seen better days.

3.3 12 Fl. Oz. Bottle. Poured a cloudy amber with a huge frothy white head and tons of lacing. Aroma of citrus hops and sweet malts. Taste is nice and balanced, a nice representation of a pale ale bitter sweet and with a nice dry finish. Very drinkable and enjoyable.

2.9 Pale amber. Not much in the aroma, maybe a little hops. Nice bitterness in the taste. A little thin, but still enjoyable.

2.9 Draft at Rattle with Npodendorf. Pours clear gold with a white head. Light fruity notes, with some toffee-ish and herbal notes, and low bitterness. Not great.

3.0 Hazy medium amber with a rim head and curtains of lace. The taste is very traditional pale ale - begins with sweet malt which gives way at the beginning of the palate to mild, but clear, hop bittering. The bittering lingers well into the finish. Not a lot going on, but, what is there, is steady, and drinks easy.

2.3 bottle. amber with small head. mediocre pale ale. light malt and bitter hops. flavor is lacking.

3.2 Bottle from Total Wines, Sterling VA. Deep amber in colour with a rocky, off-white head. Big, tangerine fruits, caramel, chewy biscuit malts, a touch of pine and a dry finish. Good.

2.8 From a 12 oz bottle shared at home. Pours a cloudy pale gold with a white head. Sweet caramel malt nose. Surprisingly hoppy flavor with a metallic finish.

2.0 Hazy golden yellow pour, with a large frothy head. Nose is grainy and metallic, not a good sign. Taste is bland without any flavor. Maybe if your thirsty on a hot summer day. Will need to stop my beer club of the month subscription after this.

2.4 Pours a hazy golden with a white head and aroma of sweet malt. Taste is sweet, of malt, caramel, and light hops with light bitterness in the finish. Light brew thats drinkable but with little flavor.

3.0 12 oz bottle - Amber color with a nice white head. Aromas of citrus hops. Friuty, sweet flavor with a hint of caramel. Not spectacular, but a very nice beer.

2.8 pours a golden yellow with a nice white head. This beer tastes of a nice light hops and a nice light malt flavor mixes together well, there is a light bitter taste, but in general it is pretty plain.

2.9 Pours cloudy, lemon gold with a gigantic off-white head. Scent is malty, grainy hops. Taste is softly bitter, well bodied hops. A little caramel. Very smooth...fairly solid.

2.8 Bottle. Caramel and pineapple hops aroma. Hazy dark gold with a small off-white head, light lacing. Grassy hops and light grainy malt flavor. Medium body, low carbonation. Not the most pleasant hop flavor, and could use a little more malt balance to suit my taste.

2.7 Soft caramel and faint hop aroma. Very hazy orange. Medium bittersweet with some earthy notes. Here I thought Patriot Ale was a Family Guy joke...so it does exist. Quaffable even if stronger than most pale ales. Good as a ’2nd beer’ in a session.

2.9 Serving: 12 oz. bottle from Wegmans Leesburg. It pours a light amber color with a decent white head. The nose is stale hops mostly. The flavor is bland malt, stale hops, slight earth and fruity notes. Again with the aggressive carbonation. Medium bodied. An unremarkable pale ale.

2.8 Beer of the Month Club bottle shared at a tasting at our place. Cloudy golden with some white film, Smells of grapefruit and only grapefruit and tastes mildly bitter. Soft, almost flat carbonation, light body and watery.

2.7 Bottle. So these guys have trademarked the term "HANDCRAFTED." apparently (per the bottle). Guessing you need to incorporate the lack of a space, the period, and the capital letters to be in violation of this one. If I knew the internet lexicon abbreviation for "rolling my eyes," I’d use it here. Hazy bright yellow pour with a friggin’ MONSTER of a white head that never really goes away. Unbalanced grassy hops with a bit of citrus. Palate is a bit thin.

3.1 Not too bad, standard APA, cloudy, lacing, everything GT told me to write in a review

2.8 Light golden body with an enormous head that never dissipated. Lots of tiny bubbles and thick lace. Modest citru and grassy hops with a moderate malt base. Medium body and carbonation, crisp finish. Pretty underwhelming.

2.6 From Ale in the Mail - light amber/orange color, very faint head. Hint of grassy hops and some malt. Hops are most prominent and not well refined. Sharp flavor and not well balanced with malts. Leaves a lingering finish.

3.6 Pours cloudy orange. Orangepeel nose.. Taste is orange spice bitter hopps...not bad

2.3 Smells like wood cleaner, pours with almost no head. Looks like your first pee after an orgy. Slightly bitter citrus taste. Didn't care for it.

2.9 Bottle. Aroma has notes of cereal malts and faded hops. Medium amber hue with an average white head that diminished and left good lace. Flavor is medium sweet and bitter. Palate is medium bodied and watery average. Overall an odd brew. Malty with little hop presence besides bitterness. Didn’t really enjoy it.

2.6 Bottled. Poured clear light-medium golden with a sticky white head. The aroma picked up dank lemon and stale bready notes accented by more lemon and some grassy notes.. not so enticing. The flavor found pale and light fruity malts at the core.. tacky lemon rind and light grass around.. finished with a lot of residual sugars and odd, lightly vegetal bitterness. Lighter-bodied with just an OK flow through the palate.. not one I need to drink again.

3.0 poured from 12oz sample via BMC - Well, still not quite where I want a delicious pale ale to be, BUT it is progress and exponentially better than their "bald eagle brown" that BMC paired this with. Clean, slightly crisp, but with unwelcome astringency and heat. This should not taste "hot" for 6%.

2.2 Pours a light amber with a smallish head. Aroma is citrusy, mostly orange zest but it’s faint to me. After a few minutes, there is some yeast breay notes. Slightly bitter taste with a slight metallic finish.

2.6 Pours a hazy orange brown color with very active carbonation and excessive head. The malt come through the aroma with also touches of a medicinal odor. Taste is extremely hopped in the front and balanced more towards the end.

3.3 Pours a gorgeous golden orange color, with a thick, frothy, cream-colored head on top. The aroma features a nice but understated balance of woodsy hops and light caramel malt sweetness. The flavor is likewise fairly balanced, with notes of pine intermingling with a caramelized sweet citrus character, but there is also a slight dull, increasingly metallic quality that detracts somewhat from the enjoyment of the flavor. The light, soft carbonation is generally pleasant and allows for a slight lingering bitterness, although that dull metallic character lingers as well. Overall, though, this is a solid, drinkable pale ale.