Rocker Sammy Hagar celebrates launch of his Detroit-brewed Red Rocker Lager

Rocker Sammy Hagar's whirlwind Detroit visit this week included not just a concert but the official introduction of his new Red Rocker Lager, which is brewed in Corktown.

Hagar got the beer festivities rolling Monday night at the Fillmore Detroit, where he held a VIP launch party ahead of a sold-out show with his band the Circle.

At the pre-show reception inside the Fillmore's State Bar, Hagar greeted and slapped hands with guests, most of them sipping on cans of his new beer.

Hagar was sporting sunglasses and a Red Rocker Lager T-shirt when he hit the Fillmore stage later that evening. Within minutes, he'd cracked the first can of beer alongside bassist Michael Anthony as the band performed "Good Enough" by Van Halen, the band Hagar fronted from 1985 to 1996 and again in the 2000s.

The show was opened by veteran Detroit rapper and longtime Hagar friend Champtown, who was backed by a three-piece rock band.

Hagar, in a Tuesday interview at Brew Detroit in Corktown, where Red Rocker Lager is being brewed, said the performance and beer introduction were celebratory.

“I can only put it on the level of my birthday bashes at the Cabo Wabo,” he said. “It seemed like people came from out of town. And everyone was really into it.”

Hagar said Red Rocker Lager is special and that he worked really hard on the formula.

He credited his knack for learning how to taste individual flavors to his chef grandfather, who hailed from Italy.

“I am a connoisseur of flavor,” Hagar said. “So when I taste a spirit or a beer, I taste the hops, taste the water. I taste any flavorings going on there.”

He was aiming for the Red Rocker Lager to have a “light Mexican flavor and medium body.”

“And to do that, it needs a little bit more sweetness,” he said. "And I don't like it to be too bitter or too light. I don't want it to be too heavy like an IPA.“

Hagar boasted that his beer, spirits and cocktail products are additive-free and have no artificial flavors or added sugars. Instead, the products are sweetened with agave syrup.

“It’s not my idea to have the biggest beer in the world. I want the best lager in the world,” Hagar said. "And that's with everything I make. My rum, my tequila. All is in that same category."

On Red Rocker Lager being brewed and coming out of Detroit, Hagar said he is extremely happy.

“Just because it's Detroit and it's America. It's the industry capital … the auto industry built this country for God's sake,” he said. “I think it's certainly one of the top five things that built America."

Hagar is known for creating Cabo Wabo Tequila, named after his Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in the 1990s. The tequila was a huge success and grew to become the No. 2 premium tequila in the U.S. He sold most of his stake in 2007 and then what was left three years later for a total reportedly near $100 million. Another brand, Hagar's Santo Tequila and Mezquila, is in partnership with celebrity chef Guy Fieri He also has Beach Bar Rum with rocker Rick Springfield.

“I think I'm on track to make the best product there is … and I think the music is pretty damn good, too,” Hagar said.

Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rocker Sammy Hagar celebrates launch of his Detroit-brewed beer