Bear Republic XP Pale Ale

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

for me the hardest beers to write about are the ones that are just plain okay. one can’t really be scurrilously sarcastic or cutting, likewise one can’t get too carried away with superlatives. in these cases, one can almost hear the drone of bland midwestern ’niceness’. and what fun is that?!? sure, this beer is fine-- ’fine’ being said with the approximate enthusiasm of an answer to "how are you today, sir?" asked by a tele-marketer. for starters, this ostensibly "exceptional" ale looks, uh, well, fine. the mix of golden grains creates a pour animated with the warming oranges of california poppies; the head was light antique white of natural linen and comprised a thick and varied crown of foamy cobble. modest nose of coriander and pine, along with some packing material of the styrofoam variety. a lot of swirling won’t excite any more articulation on the part of the tight lipped aroma, so save your wrist. rather dry with brisk carbonation. indeed it’s of modest body, reasonable bitterness, with citrus and denny’s restaurant-grade white toast flavors. warming makes it feel flat rather than encouraging any stray or shy complexities to emerge. yep, it’s a modest little quencher with toboggan shaped malts engineered to speed down your gullet. hang on... here comes the waitress. "how is everything tonight folks?", she asks. everyone in unison: "fine!"

Fresh, strong floral, lavender, citrus, orange and grapefruit hops nose with strong sweet, honey-like malt character in the aroma. Hazy, dark orange-tan coloured body is topped by an immense, fizzy, off white head that recedes slowly with some lacing. Very strong citrus character is quite sharp and tangy, offering lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit. Medium bitterness and low malt character are overshadowed by the strength of the hop flavours. Very strong carbonation is too much especially considering the dry, over-attenuated mouthfeel. As it warms and carbonation subsides, tangy sharp quality in the flavour decreases and the mouthfeel becomes a bit more manageable also, boosting the score somewhat. Snifter. Initially just above fridge temperature - allowed to warm to just below room temperature. Bottle (Half Time, Sep-05).

Although this beer wasn’t anything special, I really did enjoy it. It was nice and smooth. It poured a golden color and had a slight hoppy aroma. I liked this beer and will buy more if I come across it.

Great color. OK aroma and taste. Not a very complex hop character. Drinkable but not an as they say "exceptional" pale ale. Quick and not exciting finish.

Pale gold in color with nice head and thin lace. Light hops and decent amount of malts on the nose. Very bubbley and very light on the hops. Very crisp and refreshing beer, my kind of session beer.

Aroma of spruce, orange, toffee, some bread notes, slight hint of vanilla. Appears yellow-orange with a huge yellow-cream head that lasts an eternity. Flavor is bitter, lemony, resiny. Palate is watery, dry, astringent. Overall, this beer has bitternes but the wrong kind of bitterness. I found this to be an unpleasnt experience, a drain pour, and considerably less than the sum of its parts.

Pours brown-amber with a substantial head, aroma is mostly floral cascade hops. Flavor is very good, dominated by hops but the body is a bit too thin - almost watery. Otherwise quite good.

Pretty good. Smells alot hoppier than it is. I didn’t pour it because I’m lazy, but I’m sure it looks great. A good brew overall.