Tap Handle #507: Rocket Republic

July 24, 2015

Tap Handle #507: Rocket Republic

Tap size: 12.5"
Rarity: Rare
Mounting: standard 3/8" ferrule on 5/16" anchor bolt

Rocket Republic's "standard" tap is a really great concept. And the rocket is so realistic looking! At the top of the tap is Rocket Republic's name, as well as their logo. Following the rocket stages down to the base, there are magnetic strips at the bottom that you can attach magnetic labels to. I received four industrial-looking labels with the tap (see above right) and will be profiling the brewery's Astronut Brown Ale. The front and back of the tap are identical to each other, as are the two sides to each other. The matte finish is beautiful, but unlike a gloss finish, matte white has a tendency to pick up rub marks and scuffs. The tap is rare and the cost is moderately high on the secondary market. There is a second, 2.0 version of the tap that is more expensive and just a bit taller than the "standard" tap, with additional brewery logos just above the base.

Click through to read more about Rocket Republic, their Astronut Brown Ale, and to see more photos of this groundbreaking tap..

Rocket Republic Brewing was founded in 2013 in Madison, Alabama by Eric Crigger. Crigger's wife Tatum had bought him a Mr. Beer home brewing kit for his first Father's Day present. He quickly progressed to all-grain brewing and then took a part time position at the now-defunct Olde Towne Brewing Company in Huntsville, Alabama. At Olde Towne, Crigger learned the business aspect to brewing as well as how to brew on Olde Towne's 20 bbl brewhouse. In 2008, Crigger attended a class at Chicago's Siebel Institute of Technology on how to start a brewery. An IT professional, he decided to work towards opening a brewery and become a brewer full-time.

He started a public funding campaign through Indigogo and took on partners, Lynn and John Troy, who were rocket scientists that owned a local rocket engineering corporation. The name of the brewery came from a combination of "Conch Republic" (Key West's nickname, where Crigger and his wife met), and Rocket City (Huntsville's nickname and the Troy's profession). While they started acquiring a 10,000 square foot vacant warehouse location and pieces for the brewery - fermenters, kegs, a Brewhouse system, a forklift, walk-in cooler, and kegerators - they contract brewed their beers through Blue Pants Brewing. Exponential growth allowed construction to move forward rapidly; the building, which opened on St. Patrick's Day in 2015, features a large brewhouse, indoor tasting room and bar, outdoor seating area, walk-in cooler and entertainment on nights and weekends.

Rocket Republic currently carries seven full-time beers and two seasonal brews, and plans on adding bottling and/or canning to expand outside their current distribution area in Alabama, to other states. The brewery collaborated with Mr. Beer (the same home brewing outfit that hooked Crigger on home brewing) to create Astronut Brown Ale, and another collaboration with Mr. Beer is planned for the most popular brew in Rocket Republic's Constellation Collaboration, which features a batch released every month corresponding to zodiac signs. Customers vote on the ingredients to be used for the batch brewed under their birth sign.

Rocket Republic's Astronut is an English style brown ale for those who gravitate toward the nuttier side. A collaboration between the brewery and Mr. Beer Home Brewing, it is infused with just the right amount of real toasted almonds used throughout the brewing process. A hint of malty richness and warm, nutty undertones are sure to send beer lunatics straight to the moon and back!