One of Central City Brewing’s most popular products and one that has introduced many to the company is the Red Racer IPA. It seems the company is looking to take that classic recipe up a notch with one of their most recent new releases.

The Red Racer Imperial IPA takes their traditional 6.5% ABV, 80 IBUs recipe and ups those stats to 9% ABV and 90 IBUs. Other alterations include dropping from three different malts to just one (UK Maris Otter) and completely starting anew on the hops end with Yakima Valley, as opposed to the four different styles used in the original brew.

The beer is available on tap and in bomber-sized bottles. South of the border, the Imperial IPA can be found under the Red Betty brand name. This was the result of Bear Republic Brewing filing a lawsuit against Central City and their Red Racer name, which they viewed as too similar to their Racer 5 IPA and Red Rocket Ale trademarks.

I came across this beer at Central City’s Surrey brewery, tasting room and store. Although I was at the location hunting for something else, I just had to try this supersized version of an old favourite.

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