Bear Republic Ryevalry

Brewed by Bear Republic Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Healdsburg, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

Sampled on tap @ 1702, Tucson
This beer arrives from the tap with a pale tan colored, off-white head that sits on top of a gold colored beer that is fairly clear and has touches of copper to it. Wow, the aroma is so distinctly like tropical fruit it is quite amazing; guava, mango and huge lychee lead the way, but are supported by ripe peach, kumquat zest and ripe tangelo zest. That sort of funky edge that tropical fruit can have is definitely here in the nose in spades. I wonder if the Belgian yeast accentuates the tropical note in the hops. As the beer warms a supporting, though subtle, cracker like malt character comes out in the aroma, but this is certainly all about how the Belgian yeast character interacts with the ample hop character.

Softly viscous textured on the palate, the beer certainly has some heft that helps to provide a creaminess to the mouthfeel. The tropical fruit notes continue to play the dominant role in the flavor with a solid note of guava that is supported by notes of mango, lychee and amply ripe peach notes. The bitterness is fairly light for an aggressively hopped beer, this allows some phenolic fermentation derived notes to play a little bit of that role in the finish with a clove-like spiciness, a hint of tongue numbing turpenes and some medicinal and almost aspirin like flavors too. Towards the finish some herbal hop notes are softly noticeable; notes of menthol (likely accentuated by the Belgian yeast) and a light herbal edge as well as a touch of pine that comes out a bit more when paired with the pizza I just got. There is a touch of warming / spicy alcohol to the finish that is also accentuated by my pizza. The malt plays a purely supporting role here, it contributes more to the texture than anything as the hops really do a good job of drowning out any malt-derived flavors. This is quite smooth and oh-so drinkable, it has a light carbonation which helps this along and there enough texture to really nicely compliment the hop fruit character.

What a very tasty brew, I really like how smooth this is; this is really helped along by the very low bitterness, but the tropical fruit character is just incredibly intrigueing to me for some reason. I could drink a lot of this beer in a sitting (which would likely be a bit dangerous).

Draft at Rattle with Andrew. Pours a clear yellow body with nice lacing. Aroma is banana, light floral hop, and sweet fruit malts. Mouthfeel is medium and sticky with average carbonation and notes of astringent hops, clove, brandy, and light booze.

On tap at O’brien’s. How many of my ratings start with that phrase? Light honey colored amber pour with fizzy white champagne head. Nose is sugary sweet and white grapes. Belgian sweet citrus yeast. Taste is thick high Belgian sweet and citrus. Hoppy bite behind. Even flavors in the mouth. Not a session beer.

On tap at Beer Republic during SF Beer Week, what a week! Pours clear deep gold with near white head and some spotty lacing. The aroma has plenty of Belgian yeasty spiciness, mild sweetness and slight spicy hop notes off to the side. The taste is very similar with big bold Belgo yeasty spices and clove and coriander followed by mild sweet maltiness and hints of spiciness like rye or spicy hoppiness. Too Belgo spiciness for me. I would love to try this with the Belgo influence off in the background and the rye and IPA up front.

Sticky malt...very sweet, unique quality to the malt (presumably from the Rye) and while nice, it lingers a bit oddly. I can’t detect the rye, but the malt is definitely different. The bitterness plays nicely and it all comes together with a good hop choice, but just comes up a bit short.

Aroma is of peachy hops and peppery spice. Really interesting blen of west coast hops and Belgian yeast aromas. Flavor is really smooth with all of these hops. The Belgian yeast flavor tempers the bitterness very well. Easy drinking DIPA

Had sometime in 2010 at Rattle N Hum - I had this brew when I went to GABF but when you mix a million other beers it’s hard to really enjoy a beer. This time around though I really got to enjoy the greatness of this brew and it turned out to be one of the highlights of my day. This is a great rye ipa. I thought it was so good I bought a pint of it after. A one time brewed IPA that needs to be tried.

On tap at buckeye smell is awesome and bright but the rye ruins the taste a bit with its spice because it lingers a bit long

2011 GABF. Clear light gold with a dense foamy white head. Aroma is hoppy yet sweet: floral, resinous, caramel, some lemon hops, and some rye bread dough yeast. Flavor id equally sweet and hoppy. Nice floral citric hops, sweet caramel malty grains, finishing sweet with a nice rye-toned linger, and a touch of citric hops. Delicious and balanced.

Hmm.. an imperial rye IPA from Bear Republic. Dark gold pour with a creamy head. There is plenty of rye and West Coast hops in the aroma and flavor. Dry and bready - very good!

Draft @ RFD, Washington DC. Pours a slightly hazy golden color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity fresh hoppy peach and grapefruit aroma. Fruity malty hoppy bitter peachy grapefruit flavor. Has a fruity malty hoppy bitter finish.