About
The story of Bear Republic, like most other craft brewers, begins with homebrewing. It was the spark for our passion to create quality, hand-crafted beers. We are a family-owned brewery, located in the heart of Sonoma County, California. The company was established by the Norgrove family in 1995, with Richard G. Norgrove as brewmaster.
After 11 years of rapid growth, we opened our Factory 5 brewery in Cloverdale, California, where we brew and package all our beer that goes to market. We hand select our ingredients for each batch, the grains and hops we use are chosen for their unique characteristics and the recipes and formulations are patiently developed over time. Many recipes start as a home-brew and then develop into the commercial beer available in many retail outlets today. We pride ourselves in using our established methods while always looking to improve efficiencies and techniques that allow us to provide quality beer to share with the world.
Beginning 2023 thw brewery was acquired by Drake’s Brewing.
After 11 years of rapid growth, we opened our Factory 5 brewery in Cloverdale, California, where we brew and package all our beer that goes to market. We hand select our ingredients for each batch, the grains and hops we use are chosen for their unique characteristics and the recipes and formulations are patiently developed over time. Many recipes start as a home-brew and then develop into the commercial beer available in many retail outlets today. We pride ourselves in using our established methods while always looking to improve efficiencies and techniques that allow us to provide quality beer to share with the world.
Beginning 2023 thw brewery was acquired by Drake’s Brewing.
8/10
Bitterness! Pine. Pith. Some oxidisation but really well made
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Jun 2019
at 19:28
6.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Can. Slightly hazy golden-amber beer with a whitish head. Citrus aroma. Grapefruit and orange flavor. Medium bodied. Good bitterness. Grapefruit and orange linger with light earth.
Tried
from Can
on 18 Jun 2019
at 18:02
6.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Draft. Amber beer with a cream head. Light grapefruit and light pine aroma. Grapefruit and pine flavor with backing caramel. Medium bodied. Good bitterness. Grapefruit and pine linger with backing caramel.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Jun 2019
at 04:25
6.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Draft. Amber beer with a cream head. Grapefruit and light tropical fruit aroma. Grapefruit and light tropical fruit flavor with light pine. Medium bodied. Good bitterness. Grapefruit and light tropical fruit linger with pine.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Jun 2019
at 04:20
6.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Keg at MKE Burger Appleton, 5/30/19. Hazy orange, large creamy white head, good retention. Aroma of tropical fruit, orange, pale malt. Taste is herbal, earth, mandarins, citrus. Medium bodied, juicy, mild bitterness.
Tried
on 07 Jun 2019
at 01:19
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Can from Cap Tap. Pours translucent gold with a foamy near-white head. Aroma is fruity and citrus. Med body or better. It's fairly juicy; quite fruity. Orange and tangerine do seem to be in it. Juicily undry. Hoppy. Moderately/juicily bitter. Quite refreshing. Almost juice for breakfast - tho no citrus sour. A really nice IPA.
Tried
from Can
on 03 Jun 2019
at 00:16
7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle from Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa, CA. Pours translucent gold with a white head. Aroma of guava with a touch of passionfruit. Quite fresh. Med body with a lot of guava in the beginning. Goes a bit tart, some malt/wheat pops up and goes away as some passionfruit shows up. Refreshing and delicious.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 May 2019
at 23:25
4.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 2
Texture 6
Overall 3
First whiff is tropical fruit hops, Fades rapidly to Pine resin Hops and dry grain. Flavors are dominated buy heavy medicinal Pine resin Hops and some malt. Unpleasant. Drain pour for me.
Tried
on 26 May 2019
at 03:52
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bomber from Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa, CA. Pours hazy/translucent gold with a foamy white head. Aroma of fresh stone fruit, tropicals and citrus notes. Med body. Very dry. Hop isn't South African, but apparently the Huell Melon is suggesting that - anyway - melon for tropical - citrus for tang - fresh prunus fruits to explain the softness. More than moderately bitter - it has tang, but not harshness. Suitable ale for Black Crows.
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 May 2019
at 01:19
7.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
From bottle to pint glass. Explosive tropical aroma. Hazy yellow with large white foam. Flavor follows aroma yet slightly subdued.
Tried
from Bottle
on 24 Apr 2019
at 06:08