Bear Republic Brewing Company Racer 5 IPA (365 Day 286)

By scot in 365 Days of American Craft Beer, Beer on Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA

I can’t get enough American craft beer, that should be obvious. American IPAs are probably my favorite style, once again a layup. My favorite style within the style is the west coast ipas. They have a much more forward hop profile that is usually centered around citrus and pine hops along with some newer strands that bring out tropical, grapefruit, and floral.

Racer 5 IPA by Bear Republic Brewing Company is the glass slipper that fits the foot perfectly. Racer 5 pours with a huge, frothy head as most big IPAs do which ends up leaving a lot of lacing in the glass. The aroma and taste are built on a caramel malt backbone that is gracefully pushed upon by floral, pine, and citrus hops: the trifecta of hops. Bitterness hits the back of the mouth, lingering.

Quite a solid offering that scratches the west coast IPA itch nicely. Enjoy!

Aroma: 10 (25%), Taste: 9 (25%), Look: 9 (15%), Drinkability: 9 (35%), Overall: 9.3

Useless Fact: Karl Marx once served as a reporter on the new York Herald Tribune (the paper was then known as the New York Tribune). In 1848 he worked in the London office of the Tribune, and his boss, the managing editor, was Richard Henry Dana, who himself became a world-famous as author of Two years Before Mast.