Bear Republic XP Pale Ale

Brewed by Bear Republic Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Healdsburg, California USA

Pours dark copper with a two-finger white head. Incredibly piney hop aroma with some floral notes. The flavor falls short of the aroma, at least until the end. The beginning is caramel malt and very faint soapy hops, but the finish is that pine and hop flower of the aroma. It leaves quickly, keeping this one well out of the realm of the IPA and firmly in that of the APA. Good.

22 oz. bottle from Bevmo. Drank on 6/10/06. Bottle conditioned. Clear, very light orange / copper. Decent amt. of floaties. Big, 1.5" creamy white head. Nice thick layer of foam sticks around. Good lacing. Aroma - Interesting mix of some sweet malts and some complex hop aromas - little piney, little floral, something else I’m having a hard time describing. More and more citrus as it warms. Flavor - High level of bitterness. Kind of a small malt backbone, almost watery on the tongue. Very citrusy in the finish - orange and grapefruit. Too citrusy. Palate - pretty light, light to medium, but too light for this beer. Avg. to slightly high carb. Overall - OK, way too citrusy, not enough of a malt backbone to balance the high bitterness and hop flavor. It’s OK, but not a great APA.

Poured a caramel amber color with a very generous pillowy white head that subsided slowly and yielded great lacing. The aroma was of caramel, citrus, and light floral/pine smells. The flavor was much of the same, but the finish was very nice. Sharp hop finish, but not overkill. Nicely done.

Bottle: Clear gold, lots of carbonation with a sturdy off-white head. Aromas of flowers, citrus and sweaty gym clothes. Tangy to the taste, more mild than I expected. It is mild hops, pears and a bit watery. The feel resembles something like "soft" water. Nothing incredible, but ok.

From a 22 oz. brown bomber bottle with a short blurb and serving instructions on the upper left side of label, no bottled/freshness date. Made a good appearance, poured a clear reddish orange with a foamy white head that settled into a thin foamy lacing, good carbonation. Had a caramelized and doughy malty nose with a little nutty butteriness and citric hoppiness. A crisp, textured and smooth medium bodied mouth feel, good drinkability. Caramel and a bread dough maltiness and a nut buttery yeastiness taste at first, followed by soft citric rind hoppiness, a bitterness that stays beneath the malts and a nutty, caramel finish with a little of the citric rind flavor lingering in the palate. Another balanced and tasty brew from Bear Republic, one of my favorite west coast breweries, a must try for anyone who likes APA’s.

Poured a clear amber color with bubbles rising to the surface. Large off-white head. Fruity hop aroma with orange notes. Flat dull caramel malt flavor. Light hop finish.

It comes on all much but this ends up a surprising subtle beer. Lovely to look at whith a thick fluffy head giving away to a beautiful burnished amber brown. Apples and hops in the nose. Extremely well balenced, which a pronounced baked good sweetness that gives way to a pronounced dry bitterness. Nice.

A hazy amber beer with a sweet malt and decent hops flavor. A flat aroma of weak malt and nice hops. This is a good beer right on the edge of being alot better.