Bear Republic Black Racer
Black Racer™ blends Bear Republic’s love of hops with the Pacific Northwest’s appreciation for dark ales. Our pit crew brews this award winning ale which boldly defines a new frontier of flavors and always maintains pole position. Race to the Dark Side.
Bronze 2011 Great American Beer Festival American-Style Black Ale
Gold 2012 World Beer Cup American-Style Black Ale
Bronze 2011 Great American Beer Festival American-Style Black Ale
Gold 2012 World Beer Cup American-Style Black Ale
3.7
280 reviews
Cloverdale, United States
Community reviews
bottle @THT courtesy of and shared with JMGreenUK.
Thin creamy tan head. Clear deep burgundy pour. Lovely bitterness. Slight malty flavour. Very good
Great aroma of hops and malty caramel hops. Good lacing and dense darkness for color. Coffee and caramel jump out and then the hops come through in waves towards the middle and end. Mostly sweet and then bitterness at the end. Curious to see how it develops as it warm up a bit. Overall a nice beer.
I bought a bomber of this as a gift for a friend on his birthday, but of course I couldn’t help but say yes to his offer to share it with me! Black color, smallish head, not as hoppy as I might have expected, nose was dark chocolate and a touch of coffee, some light piney hops. Flavor very similar, malty and smooth with an amazing palate and soft carbonation. Very balanced with citrus/pine hops rounding out the coffee/choc flavors.
Bottle from Carriage Hills. Pours an opaque dark brown with a spotty layer of tan head. Aroma isn’t super strong but had a lot of elements to it. Malt, hops, unsweet tea. Taste has a more pronounced hoppiness with malts alongside. Maybe a pine taste that gives it the hints of unsweet tea?
Bottle thanks to wyzzywyz22, cheers mate. Poured almost black with a medium creamy tan head. Aroma has a big lick of coffee, grapefruit, roasted malts, dark chocolate. Flavour is lovely and hoppy, roasted malt, chocolate, pine. Well balanced. Great beer.
Bottle from Big C in Winter Park. Pours out a translucent cola color with Small off white head. Aroma is of piney/citrus hops, dark toasty malts, light chocolate and some lingering sweetness. Taste is of nice dark toasty malts, pine, evergreen and citrus hops, light molasses sweetness, chocolate, some lingering bitterness on the finish.
Poured from a 1pt. 6oz. bomber into a La Fin Du Monde tulip glass.
The color is dark black with slight dark highlights. The head is two fingers of foamy brownish/tan head with some webby lacing left on the glass.
The smell is hoppy at first then has a dark malty aroma that pushes out. There seems to be a fight between which will be first, hops or malt. The aroma seems to be leaning toward the dark malts and gives off a biscuit aroma.
The taste is malty again with that same bready flavor. There is touches of fig and raisin in there as well. Toward the end the malt fades back to give off a citrus hop flavor that was a pleasant surprise. The end comes back with some dark malt but also some bitterness that gives an earthy spin to the flavor.
The feel of this beer is medium bodied with a nice easy drinking feel which is a slight surprise since it is an 8.1% ABV beer. It’s smooth with a nice aftertaste that hangs but does not linger. This beer has been better than I expected.
Draft. Strong orange citrus aroma with some great juicy mandarin flavors with smoke and ash undertones across the palate. The ash lingers in a way thatvit compliments the bitter oils left on your tongue. This is one of the best black IPAs I’ve had.
Very dark brown, the aroma has rich molasses malts. Sweet, not a lot of hop save for a little bitterness. A dash of alcohol...good balance, arguably a robust porter.
Bottle - black with a large tan coloured head. Appealing aroma of light roasted hops, sweet malt, caramel. Flavour doesn’t disappoint, same elements, plus some balancing hoppy bitterness, citrus and pine, that dominates the finish. Medium to full bodied, smooth - a delight to drink.
65 cl bottle @ home, bottled 21.05.2013
Instant pine resin -aromas when opening the bottle. Aroma has resin, some vanilla, woody tones and hints of tobacco. Flavour has cocoa, hops, vanilla, and some doughy tones. Also some rye. Feels a bit messy and odd for a BIPA, but nice anyway.
Bomber from Hayduke. We had this together via facebook chat. A big tan head that has large bubbles that does not seem to fall. The beer is almost black with some red highlights. Very stout looking. Some very nice fruit in the aroma along with earth. I wish it were a little bigger. All kinds of hops are tasted. Complex fruit. Pineapple, with citrus. Some spiciness. A hint of chocolate and roasted notes. This beer is beautifully balanced and is a delight to drink. Cocoa comes in late as does some lactic. The feel is nice and smooth and has some richness to it. This is akin to a stout IPA. Good!
This was shared with Strykzone on Facebook Chat. It pours black, with a fine bubbled tan head. Light lacing. Nose of citrus, pine, and floral hops. Medium body. Smooth mouth feel. Flavor is burnt malts, and the three hops flavors....citrus, pine and floral. Moderately bitter finish. This goes down really smooth and is easy drinking. Good balance. Excellent Black IPA. Like this one a lot.
black colour. fruity hop aroma. malty resinous chocolatey body, hoppy. a nice black ipa
roast malt, dark chocolate, fresh lumber, molasses. frothy tan head over impenetrable black. I’m not a big CDA fan but this ones well balanced--avoid the clash of roast & malt, . while the roast is there the molasses, cherry & smoke flavors round it out without muting. Smooth int he mouth with the slightest burnt edge. sharp alcohol finish.
Bottled. Black beer, creamy tan head. Fresh, fruity hop nose, some berryish notes, light caramel malts. A hint of bready roastedness. Malty, softly roasted flavor, delicious light caramel, resinous bitterness. Soft, surprisingly light and drinkable. Delicious.
22 oz. bottle. Not date code anywhere. Black color without much head to speak of. Floral hops and light cocoa. The flavor is kind of muddled. Yes the chocolate, ash, floral and pine hops are there but... It’s seems to fall short in boldness after the black IPA I sampled right before it. It just doesn’t pack a punch like most of others in the style, especially a few I just sampled. I really enjoy the style but this will not be a repeat buy.
A very nice black ale, well balanced and very drinkable. Nice malt billing, very caramel and sweet bread like.
Surprised at how middle of the road this was from a brewer that usually brings it. The hops are fine, typical west coast aroma and flavor, citrus and grapefruit. Its just that the roasted coffee addition that makes most BIPA’s good to great is lacking here. Nice one to be sure, but was hoping for something special.
[Bottle (660ml)] Pours a very dark amber-brown with an average size long-lasting frothy beige head. Some minimal lacing on the glass.
Nice aroma is malty, chocolaty and hoppy first, followed by dark fruit and a hint of spices. Interesting flavour, must be the hops they chose: malty -- sweet and roasty -- and chocolaty but also slightly spicy from the hops, along with some fruit, coffee, a bit of alcohol and a moderate bitter finish.
Medium bodied. Not great, but a pretty good, interesting version of the style.
Dark black, still translucent. no head. nose is insanely piney and resinous. taste is the same but with charcoal undertones. not my thing.
Bottle from Beers of Europe. Drunk on my 40th. Black pour with a generous tan head. Roast and piney hop nose. Similar flavour with some dark fruit, chocolate and citrus notes. All very well poised. A quality example of the style with high drinkability.
Tap at rattle n hum, new york. Almost black color, small brown head. Aroma is hoppy, roasty, fruity, little burned. Nice hoppy and roasty taste, some smoke, fruity.
Bottle from Gurd at Gurd’s bottle tasting evening. Sweet BIPA. Lots of raisin flavours, bundled in with some sweet hops. Tasty.
Dusty bottle from Greenwood. Hopefully this hasn’t been sitting around for aeons. The pour’s deep chestnut brown with a medium tan head. The aroma’s burnt brown sugar, burnt coffee rinds. Some peach and grapefruit. Brash citrus. Cantaloupe. The taste is charred grain, coffee beans, dark chocolate. Bright orange peel. Loads of citrusy hops on the bitter finish. Chocolate orange ice cream. Medium body, smooth carbonation. Very tasty.
Black colored pour. Big tan head that slowly falls. Plenty of lacing left behind. Aroma is distinctly hops. But hiding behind it is a ton of malt character. Taste is totally malt with hops following up closely. Tastes like a Scotch ale with hops and more color. Darn good.
Great integration. Smoke, chocolate, and cookie, meets fresh citrus packaged inside of a well rounded body.
Dark heavy brown pour, pretty much black, with a thin light beige sticky head. The nose is odd with something like roasted mushrooms and sautéed green bell peppers and an artisanal Italian mushroom sauce. Also a bit roasty, but really it smells like an appetizer at a fine restaurant. Not sure how to feel about that. The flavor is a bit more beery with some dark grains, a bit of roast, and an almost rye-like hoppiness with medium bitterness. Most of the bitter comes from the roast, so the hops are kinda quiet. But overall it’s not very bitter. Kinda quiet for a California BIPA actually. Semi-sweet and just kinda middle-of-the-road. A good into to the style though. Not scary aggressive.
Odense Beer & Ball Saturday - Real Madrid vs. Valladolid. Black with a lasting tan head. Citrus hoppy aroma with licorice, roasted malts and a hint of cinnamon. Sweetish malty flavour with toffe and licorice, citrus hops and a touch of alcohol. It’s pretty good, but definitely better without the dark malts
Bottle @ Odense Beer & Ball Saturday - Real Madrid vs. Valladolid. Dark brown body with a small offwhite head. Hops, roasted malt, fruit, caramel, bread.