Ballast Point Manta Ray Bear Republic Café Racer 15
ABV: 8.5% | IBUS: 70 | SRM: N/A What the brewer says
“Aromas of fresh, citrusy tangerine, melon, and light pine leap from the beer and linger over a smooth finish. Like its namesake, this brew can sneak up on you—a big beer without a bite.”
What our panel thought
Aroma: “Bright fruity notes of pineapple, orange, and grapefruit. Light peach, bread with medium hops bitterness, subdued at first. As it warms, a touch of bread and salt, like sitting too close to the fish tank at an Italian restaurant that serves complementary bread.” Flavor: “Intense fruity and piney hops flavors. A touch of malt sweetness, but it hardly holds up to the intense hops bitterness that runs throughout, giving an intense grapefruit pithy character. A touch more carbonation could open things up a bit more. A light alcohol warming toward the end, but this is almost sessionable in its lightness.” Overall: “An assertive and potent IIPA that doesn’t shy away from bitter but provides some nice peach and watermelon hops flavors as a reward.”
ABV: 9.75% | IBUS: 100+ | SRM: N/A What the brewer says
“Café Racer 15 features aromas of bright citrus and resinous pine from the generous use of Citra, Amarillo, Cascade, and Chinook hops that are complemented by a dry malt finish. The result is a high-revving double IPA that is loud and assertive.”
What our panel thought
Aroma: “Lemon, orange, tangerine, touch of biscuit, and light vanilla with some pine dankness that hits up front. As it warms, the citrus notes really pop and come through as a dominating factor. Low light malt background.” Flavor: “Intense citrus character with plenty of lingering bitterness. This is the first beer tonight that I would say pushes the ‘big’ end of the style. The malt is slightly bready and medium sweet, and the juicy hops flavor is huge; they play off each other well. Somewhat of a pine character is there in the back that coats the back of the throat.” Overall: “This beer is huge! Big flavor and aroma all the way though. It showcases a great hops profile with a subdued but balanced malt bill. It finishes a touch sweet, but I think that is what they were going for. Yum!”