Central City Red Racer India Style Red Ale (ESB)
Previously called Red Racer ESB [Caplfu: This beer is Red Racer ESB rebranded]
3.6
152 reviews
Surrey, Canada
Community reviews
Lots of nuances on the nose: citrus (particularly orange and tangerine), some sort of exotic tropical fruit (guava?), floral notes and a honey-like sweetness. Caramel malts, toffee, more citrus and resin on the tongue. Quite bitter for the ABV. I like this quite a bit.
Mar 2, 2016 can. Pours a clear copper ruby with a finger of off white head that thins to a thick, bubbly film and sticks to the glass. Aroma has notes of bread, caramel, resin, pine, citrus, faint floral, and hints of tropical fruits like pineapple. Taste is balanced but on the bitter side. I think the hops have fallen a touch. Resin, pine, citrus, bread, caramel, faint floral, and a drawn out, bready, resiny, bitter ending. Medium-full body with a medium carbonation. Mildly resiny in the mouth with a dry finish. Overall not bad. I should have tried it sooner. Resin, citrus, pine, caramel, bread, and a dry finish.
Pours the colour of an old penny, with a perfect two finger head. It’s a beautiful blend of hops, malts, red fruits, and caramel. Definitely getting ESB characteristics, which I see now this used to be marketed as. Pretty tasty stuff.
Can from LCBO. Very sweet caramel aroma, with noticeable orange juice and slight hops. Appearance is clear red, almost brown; frothy head that mostly dissipates; some lacing . Potent toffee off the start that almost immediately cedes to grassy and citrusy hops. Slight mineral bitterness kicks in about half way and lingers, otherwise excellent. Really tasty and drinkable, fits solidly between the IPA and ISA.
Amber to dark red color. Aroma is hoppy. Taste is the same but has a very nice creamy mouthfeel, very good beer
Pours a large frothy beige head and has an amber coppery appearance. Thick dirty lacing. Aromas earthy hops, hints of caramel and sweet malts. Flavours are also quite sweet and malty with lots of caramel malta and earthy resin hop notes. Has a bit of bitterness to it, not too much but just enough. Some sweetness on the palate to even things out. Quite flavourful and easy to drink.
Can. Pours a deep copper almost red, off white head, small layers of lace. Nose is sweet and malty. Tastes bitter, a little caramel. A lot more hop presence than I’m used to for an ESB. Drinkable.
Confusion abounds with this poorly defined & marketed beer. Formerly an ESB; now they call an Irish red (its neither). Assume they will reformat the style again next year. Decent ipa style hop bitterness, with a malt forward edge. Hints of pepper, grain seems like rye, the hops are leafy & somewhat sticky. Strong mineral presence. Enjoyable, if not a bit too thick in the finish. It’s ok but may as well just have their regular ipa.
Pour is a beautiful copper colour with a persistent tan cap that leaves some nice lace. Fruity/toasty malt with some grassy hops. Toastiness really comes through in the taste, and helps put this a small notch about a standard amber. Light mineral taste, like bitterness on the finish. Simple and easy-drinking.
473 ml can from LCBO, served quite cool in a tulip glass.
App.: Clear copper with a fair reddish-tan head.
Aroma: Earthy and lightly fruity (berries) malt, a bit of toffee/caramel, fairly bright citrus hops, a bit peppery and resinous, kinda floral, dark bread crust veering on rye bread crust, faint booze.
Palate: Medium+ body, moderate-ish bitterness.
Flav.: Fairly pungent citrus hops with lighter peppery/resinous notes, crunch yet dry malt with big bread crust and a hint of berries/toffee, lightly earthy; dry with fairly big bitterness and a citrusy, peppery, bread crust malt finish.
Nice stuff. An “Irish Ale”? C’mon.
Transparent Amber color, not much foam. Nice bitterness, some hoppiness. Hard to beat.
Can 0.5L bought in BC liquor store. Pours a hazy dark amber. Aroma is hoppy, flowers, grassy, caramel. Taste is hoppy bitterness (piney, grass). Hoppy bitterness, roasted malt, notes of bread and tropical fruits in aftertaste. Very good, especially taking into account the cheap price.
Aroma - medley of citrus hops, floral, and resin hops. Lemon and pineapple close to the outer skin.
Appearance - body is mahogany in color, slight haze. The head is off-white, 2". Very foamy, and settles slowly. Some lacing.
Taste - rich caramel malt, with Pacific Northwest hops of the citrus, floral, and resin variety. Citrus quality has a mix of lemon, less grapefruit, and just a dash of pineapple.
Palate - medium body, not oily, average carbonation, and medium length bitter.
Rating #1375 11.12.2014 341mL Bottle from the CC/P49 Mystery Box. Bottle says Red Racer ESB. Pours a dark amber with a foamy off-white head that dissipates slowly, medium-strong retention. Aroma is mild toasted malt, hints of wildflowers. Hop presence is significant, giving the bitter character, but the breadiness of the malt is what makes this beer. Creamy mouthfeel Well balanced, medium bodied ale that is easy to drink.
Light citrus and some good malt backbone. Pours red with good head and lacing. Light sweet malt finish. Good balance, and nice little beer. Tap at Barley Bros Stadium.
Can as ESB from Bishop’s Cellar, Halifax. It pours clear red-amber with a decent yellow-white head. The nose is juicy, piney, bitter-sweet, Victoria sponge cake, jammy and biscuit. The taste is bitter-sweet, piney, varnish, leafy, nuttiness, jammy, berry, peppery spice and cake with a dry, spiced finish. Medium body and average carbonation. Not an ESB by any measure. Decent nonetheless.
Bottle: Poured a clear copper color ale with a nice off-white foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of caramelized malt with solid citrus hops notes. Taste is also dominated by caramelized malt with some light residual sugar notes offset by some dominated citrus oriented hops notes. Boyd is light with good carbonation. Not really close to an Irish ale or and ESB considering the amount of hops in this beer but enjoyable nonetheless.
can: not a huge fan of this one. is it an esb or a red? not really similar in style. this comes across as a lightly hoppy red ale, but also a little dusty. not bad, but not impressed either.
Yuck. I obviously got an extremely old bottle (labeled as ESB) because it literally poured out of the bottle as foam. Gross metallic taste. Willing to try a new rebranded bottle and re rate then.
On tap at Beertown, under the name "ESB". Surprising citrus aroma. Bready caramalt taste with bright floral and citrus hops. Good balance of bitter and sweet. Not really an ESB, but a nice "IRA".
Visual: Pours cloudy light root beer brown with minimal head, a thin layer of fine retention, several streams of varied speeds.
Nose: bright grapefruit hops with some metallic muskiness, hints of jasmine (lvl-7)-pungency
Attack: immediate bitter hop assault, crisp fizzy-tingly mouthfeel
Mid-palate: (lvl-4)-sweetness, (MAIN) toffee malts, citrus hops, tangerine-grapefruit peel,
Finish: lingering biting hopped bitterness, burpy, dry finish.
Summary: To me this is like a less fruity-more malty drier IPA, but still very bitter. Not 100% my style of beer but decent nonetheless. The nose is great.
500ml can in to a pint glass. Nice red, leaning on the copper side. Mellow head, not over carbonated. Smells like a mix of caramel and piney hop. Tastes like it smells but better. Hop hit first and smooth caramel malt wash almost instantaneously. Like that balance. Lovely. Nobody talks about this stuff on this site but I paid less than $2.50 for this beer in BC. That’s robbery for this beaut of a beer.
Can into pint glass. Pours a slightly hazy copper colour with a little cap of off white head. Aroma is slightly fruity hops. Taste is a little malty with nice hop flavour. Good beer.-- rated via 'Find A Beer' for Blackberry 10
16 oz can to half-pint glass (thanks cards04). Looks good; a slightly hazy amberish brown with very light caramel head. Smells solid; bittersweet from the hops and malt along with some toastiness. Tastes like it smells with some tropical fruit, caramel, and a touch of pine as well. Pleasant on the palate with a medium-bodied mouthfeel. I’m normally not a fan of IRAs, but this works nicely.
ENG: Can poured into a glass. Color is amber-reddish with nice tan colored foam. Aroma is a bit pine, a bit citrus with caramel malt. Taste is caramel-malty plus hoppy-bitter but not overwhelmed. Very balanced. Overall it’s a tasty easy-drinkable beer. Kind of surprise that a beer from a can could be also great in taste. /////~///////////////////////////////////////////////////// PL: Puszka przelana do szkła. Kolor ciemno bursztynowy, czerwonawy z łądną gęstą jasną pianą. Aromat karmelowy, lekko sosnowy i cytrusowy. W smaku głównie karmelowo-słodowy z domieszką chmielowej goryczki, ale nie jest nią przeładowany. Dość zbalansowane - lekkie pijalne piwo. Bardzo dobre jak na piwo z puszki.
Not much head great but great lacing. Taste is of pine hops and malt sweetness. Has just the right amount of bitterness at the end.
Thanks to Reimer for this. Pours a foggy brown with a small off white top. Aroma is pine and grapefruit hops and caramel malt. Taste is more pale ale than esb but it’s fantastic, great maltiness coupled with a smooth grapefruit and pine hop. Wish this was available locally.
Aroma is citrus, lemon grass, earthiness and clove. A light sweet malt character can be traced. Taste is a light sweet maltiness which is met by a fairly dominant hop profile. The earthiness and tanin tastes carry through until finish and cloaks any of the deeper malt character. Appearance is a clear copper with a very thich creamy head that retains fabulously.
Pale copper amber, bubbly tan head, low retention and lots of of lacing. Aroma is floral, pine, and resin. Taste is sweet, bread, and caramel. Finishes floral and bitter, lingering. Body is light, slightly sticky. Carbonation is strong and foamy. Not bad.
Bottle - Caramel and some piney sweet hops. Clear copper with a rich beige head. Caramel and resinous hops, bitter and sweet. Smells much better than it tastes.