I’m a huge fan of Classic TV show -  call it part of my nerd charm. I watch The Rockford Files nearly every night and I’m pretty annoyed that NBC is so out of ideas that they are going to remake this classic. So I ask the big question: what would Jim Rockford drink?

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If you’re familiar with the show you know he was an unglamorous PI who lived in a trailer that was in a parking lot in Malibu. He kept his gun in the cookie jar and according to him, “I don’t shoot it, I just point it.” When Jim wasn’t being shot at while working on a case that the client was likely going to not be able to pay for, he enjoyed sitting in his trailer eating Oreos, or going out to a good steak dinner, or a spicy taco from his favorite restaurant, Casa Taco. Jim always had a beer too with that stuff. Usually it was in a can at home or what I’m pretty sure was a lager at a restaurant or bar.

Beers popular at that time included Miller High Life, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Schlitz, and other similar brands. Beer was pretty boring in the mid to late 1970s. Things started getting better when the ban on homebrewing was lifted in October 1978 and shortly thereafter all sorts of home made goodies started appearing. The decade really relied on imported beers for variety and often those selections were quite limited. The entire microbrewery movement is a fairly recent thing too - further handicapping the selection options of the 70s.

So basically Jim liked his beer but he really didn't have much of an exciting selection to choose from. But - I’d like to take his favorite three foods and run with what beer I’d suggest to him if I have a time machine to bring it back!

Oreos - best known for dunking in milk, dunk in beer at your own risk. I’d say a stout. A chocolate and vanilla stout. There is an awesome vanilla stout from Breckenridge Brewery but I’ve not seen it around here… however you can get things from Southern Tier Brewing Company. I’ve mentioned a few of their things in the past and for your Oreos try their Creme Brulee Stout. Very vanilla scent, along with some chocolate and both scents translate to flavor. Dunking Oreos in milk has always grossed me out so again, dunk at your own risk.

How about that steak dinner? For this one I’d go with an offering from Brooklyn Brewery - their Brown Ale This is a great beer which isn’t too heavy and not only goes well with a hearty meal but the flavor pairing with steak is phenomenal. This beer smells like maple and brown sugar. The sweet chestnut flavors mixed with beef (especially grilled) plays a symphony of delight in your mouth. This beer has a low alcohol content so it’s okay to have a second one because once you taste the flavor combinations you’ll want to keep the flavor flowing. (and always drink responsibly of course, have a driver or walk/stumble home!)

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Jim also liked a “spicy taco” from a fictional local joint (insert joke here.) Usually I suggest anything with lots of hops like an IPA with a spicy food because the hops help cool the burn and the bitter + spicy flavor contrast is one of my favorites. This time though I’m going to suggest an ESB - Extra Special Bitter. Don’t be fooled by the word “bitter” as that’s more or less a slang term for Ale in England. Although there are less hops in this variety of beer, there is more diacetyl present. That’s a chemical that gives the beer a “buttery” flavor (and butter it’s butter flavor for that matter.) It’s not a butter beer per-se but more of a sweet flavor, kinda like carmel. Just try it - I always stumble when trying to explain the butter taste of a beer. Please note: not all ESB is buttery, but for today I want you to have one. Let’s pair Redhook ESB with the spicy taco. The sweet/butter flavors with the spice kicks the flavor up a notch. There are enough hops in this beer to take it a step further and have it with a spicy fish taco (insert second dirty joke here.) If you take a sip of this as a chaser, the fish flavor returns for a second quick round. It’s a neat flavor trick!

Not sure if Jim would actually drink all that but it was fun to speculate, no?

What do you think Jim would drink?

BTW - check out a great blog that Thomas at [FIND] Investigations did on Jim Rockford!

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