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Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA
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Bear Republic sure can brew a tasty beer.
The brewery is a family business, run by father (Richard R Norgrove), son (Richard G Norgrove) and their wives (Sandy and Tami, respectively). Richard G Norgrove is the brewmaster. He’s a full-time hop head and part-time race car driver.
You guessed it, his car is #5.
I first discovered Bear Republic when I drank their Red Rocket Ale. So when I found a bottle of Racer 5 at the liquor store, I knew I would be in for a treat. The label reads:
Racer 5 is an aggressive style India Pale Ale. Handmade from a brewery whose motto is “Bigger is Better”. This golden, well hopped, bottle-conditioned ale demands your attention.
Racer 5 has a nice, toasted caramel color. My tulip glass held the IPA with about a finger of foam and wafting, pleasant citrus hop aromas. But there’s some malt in the aroma, too, which becomes a bridge to the taste. I was expecting the hops — sticky pine and citrus — but the sweet, caramel malt was the pleasant surprise of the night.
Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
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After drinking the now retired Young’s Oatmeal Stout yesterday, tonight’s Young’s Double Chocolate Stout seemed a natural progression.
It’s impossible not to compare these two stouts. Both Young’s brews have similar bottles — though the Double Chocolate Stout is a bit more regal with its purple label. And the pour looks much the same, black and oily, with a thick head; but where the Oatmeal Stout put up a patchwork with huge bubbles, the head on the Double Chocolate Stout was whipped, creamy and smooth.
They also begin to differ with the aroma. Both seem understated, but the Chocolate Stout is sweeter and less roasted. You can also detect some mild hops that mellow the sweetness — at least, they became apparent after half the beer was gone and the aroma found room to collect in the glass.
It’s a very tasty stout, and an excellent Chocolate Stout. On your tongue, the beer is silky and smooth, with a light carbonation that begs you to hold this stout in your mouth just a touch longer before swallowing. The charred malts and a touch of hops are present, but the sweetness is the dominant character. Having so recently enjoyed last night’s roasted Oatmeal Stout, I kept expecting the taste of charcoal to bat down the creamy sweetness. But it didn’t take over the flavor. Instead, the roasted malts joined with the mid-tongue hops and simply policed the sweetness from afar — making their presence known without taking overt action.
Young’s Oatmeal Stout
Posted by: | CommentsYoung’s Oatmeal Stout, with its ram horn logo, appears to have been put out to pasture. The “best before” date of its last production run silently slipped past us a week ago. And that’s a shame, because this is a tremendous beer with a storied history.
Captain Ahab
In 2006, Young’s was merged into its rival, the Wells Brewing Company, forming “Wells & Young’s Brewing Company“. Young’s historic Ram Brewery site — upon which brewing had taken place since 1581, but which in recent years suffered from outdated facilities, poor location, and political pressure to be repurposed — had reached the end of its usability. The site was sold to be renovated as business space and closed as a brewery in October 2006 — and all of Young’s brewing operations were transferred to Wells.
While business reasons (read money problems) are usually the biggest driver for such changes, one must also factor in the health of the brewery’s Chairman, John Young — the great-great-grandson of Charles Young, who purchased the Ram Brewery in 1831. “Mr John” was terminally ill with cancer and — according to the obituary penned by the great beer critic Michael Jackson — brokered the deal with Wells “like Captain Ahab lashed to the mast,” determined to the end to preserve his line of pubs and hotels while keeping the Young’s brands in production.
John Young died September 17th, 2006 — just days before his brewery closed. 500 years of brewing at the Ram location ended the week of his death. Fittingly, beer from that final run was served at his funeral.
Something Nice For Your Liver
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We spend a lot of time here talking about beer drinking. And every time you and I take a drink, there’s an unsung hero working behind the scenes, diligently cleaning up our mistakes.
Yes, I’m talking about our abused livers.
For all that your liver has done for you — and doubtless, for all that it will — now’s your chance to really do something nice for your liver.
What’s that you say? No, don’t buy it a drink! That’s like making dinner for your housekeeper and then letting her to take care of the dishes.
You could give up drinking for a few days . . . but it’s hard to enjoy beer without drinking it, so there’s got to be a better way.
Collaboration Not Litigation Ale
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I love a beer with a good story.
Collaboration Not Litigation Ale popped onto my radar about a year ago. Did I read about the beer in a newspaper article online? Did I hear the story on the radio? I’ve no clue — I can’t remember! I absorb stories, and beer stories in particular have a way of catching my attention. In fact, the story of two breweries with a beer of the same name and style clanged around in the dark and dusty corners of my head for a full year — keeping company with useless A-Team trivia and the lyrics to Monty Python songs — waiting until just a few weeks ago, hen I crossed paths with a bottle of Collaboration Not Litigation Ale.
I’ll let the fine folks at Avery tell the tale:
Salvation. The name of two intricate Belgian-style ales, created by us – Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing and Adam Avery of Avery Brewing. After becoming friends a few years ago, we realized that we both had a Salvation in our line-ups. Was it going to be a problem? Should one of us relinquish the rights? “Hell no!” we said. In fact, it was quickly decided that we should blend the brews to catch the best qualities of each and create an even more complex libation. In April 2004, in top-secret meeting at Russian River Brewing (well actually it was packed in the pub, and many were looking over our shoulders wondering what the hell was going on), we came up with the perfect blend of the two Salvations. Natalie, Vinnie’s much more significant other, exclaimed, “We should call this Collaboration, not Litigation Ale!” “Perfect!” we shouted. We celebrated deep into the night, (or is it morning?). Fast forward to February 2008, and we completed our second blending of these two fine ales. Batch 2 will become available to the public February 12th.
