Dead Frog Brewery Rocket Man Interstellar ESB: After my last personal Dead Frog disaster, I decided to give them another chance right away with this 22 oz bottle release that was recommended. They are getting a bit funny with their names, but at the same time it beats just plastering the words “India Style” on there so I’ll take it in stride. The bottle design is nice, the style is more West Coast ESB and apparently this is the first beer fully developed by Nick Fengler the new head brewer at Dead Frog (thanks to www.mikescraftbeer.com for the reference).
Aroma and Appearance: It pours a slightly clouded copper with two fingers of foam and a bubbly middle. The aroma is a muted mango with tangerine, toffee and bready malt.
Flavour: The beer starts with a nice sticky bread malt, followed by some caramel, raisin and toffee finishing with an orange bitter bite and some resinous pine.
Overall Impression: This was a nice representation of the style with a West Coast flair, I tend to enjoy beers made with Maris Otter malt and the hop profile is nice.
Rating: It is a solid very good 7/10 rating, well executed and enjoyable. This is the base level where I would recommend a beer to someone, but won’t seek out another bottle because I like to try new ones so much!
Food Pairing: I think a beef dip sandwich would be perfect here, home made with fresh baked buns from Cobs or your local bakery.
West Coast Beer Geek 
Great review. My experience with Dead Frog has been similarly inconsistent, from their stellar “Fearless” IPA to some middling beers in their ‘mix pack.’ I have to think they’re either trying too hard (like the weird names) or are trying too many things. Perhaps a new Head Brewer will bring them new focus … and hopefully a focus on quality rather than sales and popularity.
Reblogged this on Make Beer not War.