Bear Republic Racer X - Wow!

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BeerBalls

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A couple of friends and I went on our own little pub crawl in Philly last Saturday, and in addition to discovering some amazing breweries and bars serving an incredible selection of beers (Eulogy in Old City may have topped the chart), I tried Racer X by Bear Republic. It's an amazing IIPA. Does anyone have a clone recipe?
 
I've never had the Racer X. I do often have the Racer 5, which is a sweet IPA. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for the X.
 
I didn't know the racer x existed...Bear republic makes great beer though, the Racer 5 and Red Rocket are fantastic brews. I'll have to look for the X.
 
I didn't know the racer x existed...

From the website:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Racer X - This bold winter ale follows English brewing traditions, but with our California twist. Bold hops, but balanced ... It's a double IPA! A.B.V. 7.8%.[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

[/FONT]
 
Racer X can be very good, it can also be nasty harsh. The last pint I had was at OBF 2007 and it was nasty. I'm sorry I got a pint and not a taste. It was definitely not the beer I remembered from past visits to BR. Sounds like they're back to good.
 
anoldur...I wasn't doubting it's existence, just never seen it haha.

Thanks for the link though!
 
I actually saw that comment about harshness on a review. I can say there was absolutely nothing at all harsh about the beer I had Saturday. It was excellent, and the other two beer nuts I was with agreed. It was probably my favorite of the day, and there were quite a few over the course of the day...
 
...I wasn't doubting it's existence, just never seen it haha.
I've had a few of the other Bear Republic beer, but didn't know about the X either. The posted was to give you (and others) an idea of what to expect when you find it. It does sound tasty!
 
If you got Racer X at a Pub in Philly you should feel pretty privileged! I live about 45 min. from the Brewery and Racer X is a special beer that only gets brewed occasionally. It is only served at the Brewery and they do not bottle it. I had it once at the Brewery and it was Awesome! Remeber that the further away from the Brewery, the more chance of Market Abuse, so you may not even be tasting what the Brewer intended.

Eastside
 
For anyone in the area, the pub I had it at was The Khyber on 2nd Street between Market and Chestnut. And it was indeed draught, not bottled. I had no idea it was so rare. I gotta get back there ASAP!
 
For anyone in the area, the pub I had it at was The Khyber on 2nd Street between Market and Chestnut. And it was indeed draught, not bottled. I had no idea it was so rare. I gotta get back there ASAP!

It's actually been on draft a number of times over the summer so far in the area and on at Ortinos Northside IIRC. Local44 had it, Capones had it, a few others too.

edit: yes, currently at the North Side:
On draft August 13th
TONIGHT‘S DRAFTS….
* Appalachian Major Hops….16oz. $4.00
* Appalachian Peragrine Pils…16oz $4.00
* Bear Republic Black Mamba…16oz. $5.00
* Hoegaarden…16oz. $5.00
* Lagunitas Brown Sugga…10oz. $5.00
* New Castle Summer…16oz. $4.50
* Lindeman’s Framboise…8oz. $5.00
* Troegs Sunshine Pils….16oz. $4.50
* Troegs Mad Elf 06, or 08...10oz. $6.00
* Troegs Naked Elf…10oz. $5.00
* Laughing Dog Alpha Dog…10oz. $5.00
* Flying Fish Farmhouse Summer…16oz. $4.50
* Allagash White…16oz. $4,50
* Appalachian Water Gap Wheat…16oz. $4.00
* Rogue I2PA …10oz. $5.00
* Troegs Dreamweaver Wheat…16oz. $4.50
* Founders Breakfast Stout…10oz. $5.00
* Bear Republic Racer X…10oz. $5.00
* Boulder Brewing Sweaty Betty…16oz. $4.50
 
Racer X is an awesome beer, I found this link for Racer 5
He said it is a BYO clone recipe, but I searched BYO and did not find it.

Bear Republic Racer 5
===================
11.25 lbs 2-row Pale Malt
1.66 lbs Wheat Malt
0.625 lbs Crystal Malt 15L
0.42 lbs Dextrose
0.21 lbs CaraPils Malt

6.1 AAU Chinook 90 min
8.7 AAU Cascade 60 min

0.3 oz Amarillo dry hop
0.3 oz Centennial dry hop
0.2 oz Cascade dry hop
0.2 Tomahawk dry hop

Wyeast 1272 American Ale II or
White Labs WLP051 California V

Mash in @ 145 then raise to 152 until conversion
Boil for 90 min

Extract: Replace all but 1 lb of the Pale malt with 4.25 lbs of DME
Steep grains for 45 min @ 152
 
Some times I forget how blessed we are out here in California, let alone San Diego. Racer 5 and Racer X are standard beers on tap at many of our local brew houses, and I've never tried to clone it, but maybe I'll try this recipe soon too.

Let me know how it works out.
 
I'm bumping this thread to see if anyone has found a Racer X clone recipe yet? I haven't tried Racer 5. How similar are they?
 
It's been a while since I had the Racer X (August), but my recollection was that it had more depth and malt complexity than Racer 5. While Racer 5 is good, it is a pretty standard West Coast IPA, with loads of hop bitterness, flavor and aroma (probably Cascade and/or Centennial), but not much exciting going on in the malt category. Racer X is also darker in color and with more of an alcohol warmth. Merely one man's observation. I prefer Racer X well over Racer 5.
 
Racer 5 is my favorite beer, though Racer X is up there! I tweaked BYO's Racer 5 recipe to better match Bear Republic's description on their web site and thought it came out very close. If you want to try to brew Racer 5 let me know and I'll send you my recipe.
 

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