Rating: 4.75/5

Black Racer IPA by Bear Republic is an 8.1% ABV Black India Pale Ale

Label: 
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™.
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Been waiting to see what this release is about. Racer 5 and Racer X are some of the best West coast IPAs out there. Now for this one, should be interesting. The aromas start off more hoppy and aggressive than other Black Ales or Black IPAs. Some of the other ones start with more malty sweetness forward in the aromas. This one has the grassy, piney, grapefruit and tropical fruit aromas up front followed by the roasty chocolate malty sweetness after. The taste is very much so hops and IPA goodness full front followed by the sweet malt near the end. Flavors of Grapefruit, Mango, earthy, grassy, piney and somewhat floral hops, lemon, citrus, mint, molasses, minor dark chocolate, minor vanilla and caramel notes here and there, somewhat herbal and spicy, some minor roasted coffee notes, possibly a dark fruit note as well, mostly all IPA. This one caught me off guard. I was thinking it was gonna be more malt driven, but when they state, this is a “Black IPA” it almost seems like it really is an IPA with a dark complexion. An IPA that still a regular IPA but stepped into the dark side. Think Crystal Pepsi vs. Regular Pepsi. Ofcourse, it is still not as tropical strong as other IPAs but the fact that they got it to where it is a dark IPA even with some minor sweet roasty notes, it is still pretty amazing. It is also pretty drinkable too for that big ABV. Awesome stuff