Bear Republic Racer 5

Brewed by Bear Republic Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Healdsburg, California USA

Poured hazy golden orange, piney, citrus, fruity, little malty, little caramel.

A golden-orange beer with a nice head. Aroma was piney, citrus, fruity, & oh so nice. The taste was pine, citrus(grapefruit), bitter. The flavors blend beautifully. Great lacing on the glass & what a great balance of malt & hops & everything I expect from an IPA. Being so good I need to try more IPA’s higher in the rankings than this because I do not know how it can get better than this.

Bottle. Pours golden orange,.Aroma is pungent with fruit and malt. Thick, creamy body. Finish is strong and smooth. Excellent IPA.

From the bottle. Pours a deep golden. Nose holds generous amounts of aroma hops and hints to the amount of bittering hops. Carmelized american grains apparent in the flavor. Thought twice about buying this one after glancing over the label, but I’m glad a went through with it and bought two.

Bottled at Monks Café Wallingatan, Stockholm. Pours out in a clear pale amber appearance with a frothy wgite head. Crisp and resinous aroma of peaches, minerals, light caramel and grapefruit. Medium-bodied with hoppy and fresh notes of grapefruit, lemon-rind, minerals, grass and resin. Crisp bitter finish of grapefruit, grass, resin an d minerals. An elegant and a really bitter IPA .

22oz bomber. Pours a nice hazy orange colour. So smooth, nice amount of bitterness. So delicious...did I say how smooth and delicious it was? Fantastic beverage.

Bottle, picked up at Binnys in CHI, OCT/08. Pours clear, deep golden/bronze with thin fading white head in my Stone IPA glass. Nose is some citrus hops, a little stale or weak...I know I saved this a little too long, but.....here goes...........Ahhhh, not bad! Malt profile is definitely starting to take over the hops having waited it’s turn in the bottle for nearly a year (at least). But a good citrusy, dry, spicy floral hop flavor still persists. I couldn’t say I would know Cascade hops if I tasted them, but if their purpose in this brew was to make the hops and malt work together, it gets an A+. I actually don’t mind this being a little malt forward...there is still a good hop bite, especially with this being classified as an ’IPA’. I must say I applaud the west coast style of maximum hopage...flavor just lasts longer IMHO. The malt profile really makes this smooth and enjoyable. Good mix of carbonation, malts become mellow, almost fruity and maintain an excellent smooth mouth feel throughout the glass. Sure, I’d like to try it fresh, but I have no complaints on this at all. Excellent use of hops, excellent use of malt backing (fronting?).

Pours a bit yellowsih...a bit murky, with a nice head that laces pretyy good. Smells mostly of citrus and pine. Very smooth, very good flavor of pine resin and grapefruit. Has a really nice bitter to the finish. Everything blends well together.Well done.