While Alberta regularly brags about having the best import selection in Canada, it doesn’t mean it has every possible beer brought into the country. For example, my first opportunity to buy a bottle of Aecht Schenkerla was in Halifax. And this past summer I discovered B.C. stocks a number of U.S. west coast breweries not currently on shelves in the province on the other side of the Rockies.

One of those breweries was California’s Bear Republic. Widely known for its style-defining IPA and pale ales, Bear Republic is one of those breweries beer geeks drool over. So, naturally I picked up some bottles of what I could, including their flagship Racer 5 IPA. Now, Racer 5 is considered by many to be one of the best examples of an American IPA available. So, that is a pretty good reason to give it a try, if you ask me.

And so I did. It has the classic IPA hue, dark orange-copper. It builds a moderately dense white head with noticeable lacing. The aroma comes out swinging with a strong piney, resiny hop, only offering some rounded toffee malt underneath as a salve to all that hop aroma. It has its share of fruity esters as well.

The initial flash of flavour is fruity and a moderately grainy sweetness. But this touch of malt is quickly merged into a piney, citrusy hop bitterness and flavour. There is a fair bit of bitterness in this beer. I find the blending of the fruity hop and the yeast esters construct a rather formidable fruitiness. The linger is not as big as the initial hop burst would suggest. It ends up with a noted but moderate piney, resiny linger. The linger may be one of the most pleasant aspects of the beer.

This is not a timid IPA by any stretch. Its initial presentation comes across as more of a Double IPA rather than a standard IPA. To my palate I find the hop too intense upfront as it distracts from other, more subtle aspects of the beer. I think I want a little more interplay between the malt and the hops. The finish is the highlight, as it accents those classic American hops and dries out enough to prevent the beer from being too thick.

There is no question this is a finely crafted IPA. But to risk some sacrilege I am not convinced it is heads and shoulders above other IPAs I  have tried over the years. I think I could name a couple Canadian-made IPAs that come pretty close to Racer 5 in overall IPA-ness. This is not to denigrate Bear Republic – it was worth every penny and every carbon emission to bring it home. I just wonder if we place some breweries on pedestals at the risk of over-looking others doing similarly good work.