Beer Blogging - Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA
This beer is a regular on tap at the UCI campus pub, and I'm a big fan. I decided to pick up a 22-oz. bottle from my liquor store to see if it tastes as good when it's not coming from a keg. Let's see.
The pour looks the same as the stuff on tap: a slightly cloudy golden color with a fluffy white head. The head disappears within about 30 seconds, leaving a thick layer of lace on top of the beer. The aroma smells like a pretty standard IPA, with citrusy hops floating on top of just a hint of malt. Overall the aroma isn't as strong as I expected.
The taste is, frankly, really good. Even though this is an IPA with 7% ABV, it's not hard to drink at all. There's not nearly as much bitterness as you'd expect, for example. What bitterness there is presents itself right out front, in the form of a grapefruit flavor. The malts come next, with some bready taste and maybe a little sweetness. Caramel, maybe? I guess somebody with more of a sweet tooth would appreciate that part a little more. There's really not much alcohol taste to speak of. The mouthfeel is pretty good; it might benefit from a little more carbonation, but that's just a personal preference. The grapefruit comes back for the aftertaste, and sticks around for a good long while.
Overall, this is a very well-balanced beer. The hops aren't so strong that they totally drown out thehops malt [that didn't exactly make sense, did it?], which can be a problem with some IPAs (especially some of the ones from Northern California). I would rate this beer a 9/10, adding that if you like IPAs and you see a bottle of this beer you must buy one. It's just as good from the bottle as it is on tap, too, which cannot be said about all beers.
The pour looks the same as the stuff on tap: a slightly cloudy golden color with a fluffy white head. The head disappears within about 30 seconds, leaving a thick layer of lace on top of the beer. The aroma smells like a pretty standard IPA, with citrusy hops floating on top of just a hint of malt. Overall the aroma isn't as strong as I expected.
The taste is, frankly, really good. Even though this is an IPA with 7% ABV, it's not hard to drink at all. There's not nearly as much bitterness as you'd expect, for example. What bitterness there is presents itself right out front, in the form of a grapefruit flavor. The malts come next, with some bready taste and maybe a little sweetness. Caramel, maybe? I guess somebody with more of a sweet tooth would appreciate that part a little more. There's really not much alcohol taste to speak of. The mouthfeel is pretty good; it might benefit from a little more carbonation, but that's just a personal preference. The grapefruit comes back for the aftertaste, and sticks around for a good long while.
Overall, this is a very well-balanced beer. The hops aren't so strong that they totally drown out the
Labels: beer