Five Zero
Bear Republic Brewing Co.

Old review notes here, haven't seen this one on the festival circuit in awhile.

Pours that mixture of auburn, deep orange and light brown. Super thin head, 1/5" off white. Aroma hit those grapefruit notes. Could have used more diversity in the aroma department.

Taste brings more citrus of a non grapefruit variety, mouthfeel kept light and non sticky or heavy. BR isn't really known for dry toasted malts, they usually go heavy, but this one was actually in the lighter malt side of their hoppy portfolio. Would bang again next time it shows up.

 

 

 

Served up pretty dark, hazy amber with a nice parchment head that has good staying power. The aroma is surprisingly malty with a hop character that was more piney and herbal than citrus. Still quite nice. The flavor however, is not quite as exciting. Quite a lot of caramel malt sweetness stands toe to toe with a very strange hop profile that is mostly piney and herbal with a white grapefruit citrus thing going on. I guess I was hoping for Racer 5 turned up to 11, and this is more of a Midwest style IPA with a strange hop mix. The body is medium and it finishes well with a good balance of sweet and dry with a slightly fruity finish. Fairly drinkable and a solid beer, but overall just not that interesting.

I had this on tap at American craft, served in a pint glass. It was listed as an IPA, not a DIPA, and as luck would have it the owner of Bear Republic was at American Craft while we were there. He described it as a maltier version of Racer 5. That basically sums it up.

The beer was light orange color with some chill haze and a couple fingers of white froth. It smells like a well balanced IPA that has a lot of flavor, the hops being more citrusy than bitter, a little floral too. The malts come in with a bready or toasty aroma.

The beer tastes just as balanced, the malty sweetness is well tempered by the hops without becoming bitter. A pleasant aftertaste, no real bitterness at all. The body is light-to-average, about right for an IPA, and the reasonable ABV lends for quicker drinking. Another excellent beer from Bear Republic.

Had on tap @ Armsby Abbey.

A: Large thick billowy 2 finger head rises up and fades very slowly and leaves some lacing, over a semi clear very hazy reddish brown orange color.

N: Nose is lighter than expected with some spicy hops, a little citrus, some sweet malt, a little orange and tangerine, even a sweet hop aroma with aromatic light floral hops.

T: Lighter than expected as well, with a little malty sweetness, malty flavor backbone at least, some bitter spicy floral and citrus hops with a little orange peel as well. A touch of warming booze and some sweetness even like a slight light brown sugar taste. It's a little syrupy, like an orange marmalade syrup even as it combines with the bitter orange peel.

M: Medium to lighter body with good carbonation.

F: Finishes slightly astringent with quite a bit of bitterness, which finally catches up to what it should be. Some fruits come through here with more orange, citrus, and even a little apricot. It's also a little grassy and touch of spicy hops. There's a little finishing sticky sweet syrupy flavors but has some dryness as well. The bitterness is very long too. I wasn't too impressed with this one, especially for a Bear Republic brew.

Growler picked up at DeCicco's in Ardsley NY.

Appearance: Pours a fairly dark iced tea color with a 1 finger white crown that shows some retention and lace.

Smell: Lots of hop diversity....bitter hops, dank juicy hops, and a touch of floral hop presence over a slightly fruity malt bill.

Taste: Same as nose but a hint of astringency.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with decent carbonation.

Drinkability: The mouthfeel helps but the slight astringency doesn't.

Racer X is my favorite, followed by Racer 5, followed by this....

32 ounce growler pour from DeCicco's in Ardsley, NY. Pours clear darker amber, under a stubborn medium tan head, slowly going to a super thick film, more then ample sheeting and thick lace over a thick collar. Real nice looking brew. Just a moderate nose of the expected tropical fruit and pine hops. Surprisingly on the balanced side for a Calif. DIPA. Fruity hops, grapefruit, mango, leafy and minty. Yummy hop goodness, flowing smoothly over a well fortified malty base layer. Nice beer, I'd prefer it to be more of a hop bomb, but hey when did balance go so out of favor? Always nice to try a new offering from a well respected brewery from BR. NOt sure how long this will be on for- go get some.

Dark amber pour with a nice white foamy head and huge lacing all over the glass. Very hoppy aroma with some citrus fruits, pine and some light malt. Light grapefruit taste with a nice malty backbone. Pretty thin mouthfeel. Very easy drink at 7.7% and worth a shot if you can find it.

On draught at Bailey's, Five Zero (5-oh!) is a dull bronze with an off-white head that leaves foamy lace.

Smell is earthy hops, not overly robust, some sweetness to it, with the citrus and pine creeping out as it opens.

Taste is pretty hoppy, but not overly so, with a sturdy malt backbone, really making this more like a strong (but clean) pale. Which is fine, but not what I want when I'm ordering a DIPA.

Mouthfeel is dry, but with creamy carbonation and a medium body. Nice apricot ester flavor to it gives it an English IPA vibe. Fairly bitter on the finish, with the aftertaste being more leafy hops, an almost stemmy earthiness.

Mouthfeel is on the oily side, some slickness, medium bodied.

Drinkability is okay as far as pales go, but it's not a very good DIPA, to malty and not enough hops. Kind of average overall, a disappointment compared to my high expectations from Bear Republic, but the execution may reflect the brewer's design.

I had this cask conditioned at Toad in the Hole, Santa Rosa.

This is a good, but not great, double IPA, and about what I would expect in quality and character profile from Bear Republic - hoppy, not too sweet, fairly characterful, yet rather simple and very west coast.

It has a pretty big, pale tan head, frothy and soon thinning to a frothy ring with some fairly good, frothy lace.

Aroma is light and a bit subdued, grapefruit with spicey leafiness, hints of raisin and grain. Overall, the aroma is especially a standard west-coast character.

Taste is more interesting and very clean overall quite balanced, unlike a number of double IPAs which can be too sweet or too bitter. It has grapefruit with a little orange and a spicey-leafy bitterness with some light caramelly-raisiny sweetness and toasty grain. Up front, it is very smooth and balanced before the spicey-citrusy bitterness just barely takes over at the finish and lingers, with the maltiness underneath, but never is the bitterness more than just barely edging out the sweetness. The feel is nice, rather silky but not actually oily, remaining light without being viscous or slick. it's quite drinkable as well.

Draft, The Bistro, DIPA Festival. Nice, dry Double IPA. It had an interesting floral bitterness in the finish that was the high point here for me. Otherwise, there was bright orange hop note and very little malt flavor. It drank above its weight range and easily held up to many bigger beers that day. The lack of malt sweetness and the floral hop flavor pushed this into the upper half of my ratings for the day. The tap list has it at 80 IBUs.

A great dipa to start the festival with. The lightest true dipa at the fest. Typical deep orange and brown hue to a BR beer.

Smell, good hop grapfruit aroma. Taste, a little more orange citrus on the tongue than in the nose. Quite the sessionable dipa. Would love to see it bottled. Remained a force (at 11am) throughout the taster. Very drinkable, way to start the fest off on a good note.