Bear Republic Crazy Ivan

Brewed by Bear Republic Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Ale
Healdsburg, California USA

Fun. Lovely carbonation with a zesty spice and yeast. Along with some nice flavorful caramel malts and pine hops. Nice fruit essence and good body.

Draught at the Parish Publick House. The bartender only knew that this was a strong ale from Bear Republic, so I had no idea of the makeup until after I finished and another bartender informed me of the wort mixing and Belgian yeast. It was a red-brown color with a creamy, lasting head that almost grew out of the glass for the first couple of minutes. The aroma was very fruity with lots of peach coming through. I attributed this to the hops, but the Belgian yeast seems like just as likely a candidate, There was also a nice caramelized sugar and light pine quality to the aroma. The flavor had less bitterness than the aroma cautioned, with lots of fruity hops and yeast esters of peach and orange. Bitterness was there, but not too much considering the worts that went into this. Medium bodied with ample but airy carbonation. Rich caramel and toasty malt, but not very sweet or heavy on the malt. This seemed more like an interesting ASA to me. You really would never find a Belgian beer quite like this. Very nice stuff overall, and a nice surprise.

On tap at The Ginger Man in NYC. Pours a nice amber color with a thin white head. Typical Racer 5 hop aroma, big citrus pine but with a hint of the belgian yeast. Taste is a lot lighter, lots of fruity esters and a hop bitterness. Not as much body as I thought it would have. Decent brew and a nice experiment.

Tap at ACBF. Holy mother, aroma is PERFUME. I had to make sure that a 70-year-old slut hadn’t just strolled past me, and that I was actually smelling the beer. Flavor has lots of candi sugar with generic Belgian yeastiness. A bit of resin, but mostly just sweet and Belgian-sided. Kind of odd and not too fun.

Pours Medium golden orange. Hoppy and spicy nose and flavor. Medium mouthfeel. A bit bland.

Tap @ OBF... Poured a deep, rusty/amber with a slightly off-white head. Buttery caramel malts and hops on the nose. Barley and light hops with an acidic sweetness. A little kick from alcohol. Sweet, candy flavors and a cracker or biscuit-like quality.

On tap at Barleys Smokehouse. Pours a deep amber with a minimal head. Aroma of hop and malt without much yeast, which is a good thing for me. Flavor contains some yeast, but very well balanced with the hop. Pretty good.

tap. hazy deep copper pour with moderate frothy head. hoppy citrus with light spice and yeast in aroma. rich full body. caramel, floral, yeast. strong.