Pete's Wicked Red Rush

[Silent Rob]

:D Pete's Wicked Red Rush. This is some GOOOOOOOOOD beer. Anybody else had this. I think it is a Steam Beer/Red Ale mix but I'm not sure. What do ya'll think?

[steveh]

Ya can't say STEAM beer -- only California Common! ;)

S.

[Jarod]

To me it seemed to be an average beer that was very simple – typical, reminded me of a macro beer. Not the pizzazz that I would like and come to expect from craft beers, kind of disappointed me. Not a good example of the style that it represents. And I am still looking for the red in red rush.

Average at best. Sorry IMO

[MmmBeer]

Gotta agree with Jarod. Bout as flavorful as a Killians. Nothing great.

[fretlessman71]

What ever happened to Pete's, anyway? I remember my brother raving about this stuff that had a white dog's face on the bottlecap. He says that someone bought them out about 15 years ago and they haven't been the same since. Have to admit there doesn't seem to be a Pete's beer that I really like, though I've heard good things about their summer ale. Who owns them now, and does anyone think that they're responsible for the "demise" of what used to be a pretty good brew?

[fuji6100]

Pete's used to have some really unique crafted beers. The Pete's honey wheat was one of my favorite summer beers. The Pete's Wicked ale was a super-hoppy dark brew that had caramel overtones. The strawberry blonde was a great "girlie beer" to get people who weren't crazy about beer to try it.

Ever since Pete's changed ALL of their beers to "pete's wicked this" and "pete's wicked that" they seem to have averaged out all of their beers and lost that crafted uniqueness.

SAM's club has a Pete's sampler avalable right now that is pretty cheap, so I've tried all of the newly labled flavors recently. It's really hard to tell one brew from another. The Red just tastes like one of those "trying to fool you into beliving that it's not a macro" beers (like amber-bock or michelob ultra)

[steveh]

Pete Schlossberg (sp?) sold Pete's Brewing a few years ago - not sure who the owners are now, but I tend to agree with the assessment that the beers have suffered. And from talking to the local liquor store owner, I guess their sales have suffered due to them pricing themselves off the shelves as a "super premium" beer. I guess they've backed off on their $8 a six pack strategy.

I, too, remember the Wicked Ale being a delicious, complex brew. The roasted, caramel, and chocolate malts were blended perfectly for a great brown ale. I also remember the dog being on the label as well as the cap.

Schlossberg started Pete's Brewing as a (very) micro in California whose popularity grew so much that he needed to expand and started contract brewing his beers out of Minnesota (August Schell in New Ulm IIRC). And yeah, when the beers all started taking on the "wicked" moniker, it seemed they became less and less unique.

Schlossberg has written a book titled "Beer for Pete's Sake." I have a copy, but I need to dive into it - it may have some answers on the rise and fall of Pete's Brewing.

S.