Central City Brewing Red Racer Imperial IPA Imperial/Double IPA at 9.0% ABV ($8.99 at Willow Park Wine & Spirits, 650ml, no bottle date or best before)
Pours clear pale amber with two fingers of off-white head, excellent retention, well-defined heavy lacing. (5/5) Nose is caramel malt, pithy citrus, pine resin. (8/10) Taste is moderate to strong sweet, moderate to strong bitter. (7/10) Medium body, moderate sustained carbonation, strongly bitter finish. (4/5)
Just a little too much emphasis on the malt for my taste. Not “malt forward”, as such, but a balanced malt/hop presence – and for a DIPA, that’s too much malt for my preference. And yes, perhaps I’m damning it with faint praise, because overall it’s very well done, and very dangerous – that 9% ABV doesn’t make any sort of appearance at all until well into the second glass – but it could’ve been so much better with just a little tweak of the grain bill. Mind you, that being said, I’m wondering if maybe it’s the Maris Otter that I’m not the biggest fan of… Regardless, this is an excellent DIPA, and hard to beat for the price. And damn, is it pretty. (16/20)
8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
