Racer X Double IPA - Bear Republic Brewing Co.

Gueuzedude

Arizona

4.55/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Nice clear, though perhaps a light haze, copper color that is topped by an off white head. An intense aroma of American hops wafts from my pint glass: lychee, grapefruit, a bit of grassiness. it is just smells so incredibly fresh. This beer is packed with hop flavor. Damn, this is both refreshing and palate cleansing. There are notes of apricot and a light malt sweetness that pushes the hop character to another level. This beer has a good fruit presence that is contributed by the hops.

Quite incredible actually, I had forgotten how good this beer is. It is just fresh and in your face at the same time. Just a very well balanced attack between the hop aroma, the hop flavor, and the malt backbone which brings this beer to another level.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2004 22:18:09 | More by Gueuzedude

TheLongBeachBum

California

4.5/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Saturday 31st May 2003 was spent at the 6th Annual San Diego Real Ale Festival, & amongst a plethora of Beer Engines, several beers for me stood out from the crowd, this is one of them.

As xlperro explained to me after I sat down to sample it, it is the rarely seen bigger brother of the Racer 5. I am very surprised to see it listed as an IPA; I was under the impression that this is more of a Double IPA.

Presented in the special Festival Pint glass, it was officially a 5oz sample purchased for just 1 of the Red Tickets. As I got back to the Table, it was more like 8oz when it finally settled, plenty to concentrate on!

A dark looking brew, a mixture of dark brown and auburn that reflected the sunlight extremely well with a deep ruby light strike. The color really surprised me at first; I expected something much lighter (I don’t know why!) - Even xlperro noted it was a little darker than he remembered in the past. I am not sure if the cask had had the proper time to settle because it had a light hue to it, but it did not detract from the appearance too much. The head was a smooth looking one, light tan colored & a tightly packed frothy mass borne of the Beer Engine, you cannot beat that. It proudly sat atop the well-conditioned beer, and the head lasted much longer than the beer sample did!

The Nose was awesome; it was tugging at my nasal hairs as soon as the serving landed on the Bar, and all the time whilst I walked back to our BA Table. Huge pine oils, spicy hops, and all the freshness of alpine coniferous forests mixed with a light tar-like bituminous aspect at the back end. A stunningly powerful nose and quite complex with all of its multiple facets.

I have had very few Double IPA’s up to now, but this is exactly what I imagine a good exponent of the style to taste like. Malt is the dominant flavor at first, set amidst a congealed emulsion of a pungent hop-bitterness and spicy bitter finish that can have you smacking your lips at times.

For all its potent 9 ABV Horsepower, it’s a very drinkable brew and deceptively strong. It did not take me long to finish my half pint at all.

This was my second favorite beer of the Festival and one, that despite its strength, I chose to sample early on in the festival as it is rarely seen. It did not last too much longer into the afternoon before it ran off, if my faded memory serves me right.

Another high quality, excellent beer from Bear Republic.
Damn, I so wish they would Bottle this Monster!!!

Serving type: cask

07-19-2003 21:32:18 | More by TheLongBeachBum