Central City Red Racer Wet Hop Pale Ale: Available only at the brewery and brewpubs (or in a draught tap filled growler to go), this Wet Hop Pale Ale is brewed in Surrey, BC to a strength of 5% abv and is presumably a fresh hopped version of their standard Pale Ale offering. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like this was canned or bottled, but with two brewpubs and a brewery it should be easy to grab a pint or a growler to go – just be sure to consume it within 24 hours because they fill directly from the tap.
Aroma and Appearance: It pours a clear copper colour with one finger of foam and a low level of carbonation. The aroma is sweet caramel malt, tangerine, lemon and orange citrus with some whiffs of fruity mango and peaches here and there.
Flavour: This beer has a real nice caramel and toffee malt base up front with some fresh oily hop notes of tangerine and lemon in the middle, followed by a classic dry pale ale finish that’s resinous and piney on the aftertaste.
Overall Impression: It’s too bad they weren’t doing longer lasting (C02 purged) growlers fills of this one as I would have bought more than a single Boston Growler, however the beer was pretty darn good and is basically a super fresh tasting version of their already solid Pale Ale offering.
Rating: I give it a very good rating of 7.5/10, the fresh hops were detectable, notably oily, citrusy and thankfully matched up with a pleasant malt backbone to balance out the beer.
Food Pairing: You could go with a sharp cheddar or some standard pub foods with this one, like some chicken fingers in a tangy sauce.
They’ve started a fun “Breaking News” video segment on their Facebook Page showing some things going on in the brewery. Just watch them add all those bags of hops to this brew, it’s like watching a candy maker at work!
Sounds quite tasty.