About
Beyond Raw Chemistry Labs Creatine HCL is manufactured by GNC. It is designed to provide “immediate energy” during exercise and improve athletic performance.
The product contains just one ingredient: Creatine HCL (2g). HCL stands for hydrochloride, which is said to be quicker to absorb than the more widely-used creatine monohydrate. Creatine is said to increase the amount of ATP in the muscles, which in turn could reduce fatigue and increase endurance.
Beyond Raw Chemistry Labs Creatine HCL is sold in 30-serving and 120-serving tubs. Buyers can purchase on a “on time only” basis or through subscription (for which discounts are available).
Clipper83 –
It works….still not worth paying 5x more
—-Introduction—-
I have been avoiding creatine monohydrate over the past few years. While it works, no matter what I do, I ALWAYS get some bloating. While many would say that is because I’m not drinking enough water or using a poor source of creatine, that is not the case. I drink 1-1.5 gallons of water a day, and I’ve used the tried and true CreaPure.
I still enjoy the benefits of creatine, however, I wouldn’t really call it a staple for me.
In the past, I have used Creatine HCl and had the same results as I did with mono, however, I never got the bloat/water retention. After stopping creatine for a while, I decided to try it out again and picked this up at GNC.
—-Ingredient Profile—-
This is just Creatine Hcl. One scoop gives you 4 grams of Creatine Hcl. While many go by the 5 gram standard, 4 grams works fine, at least for me.
In my experience, HCl does work, and it works just as well as mono. Supposedly, HCl is easier on the stomach and has a high absorption rate. I personally find this to be simple hype. CreaPure has a great absorption rate and even if HCl has a slightly higher rate, it isn’t worth the extra money.
—-Taste/Mixability/Dosing—-
It mixes almost as good as anything can. Within seconds, the powder is dissolved in water. Does not get better than that.
On the flip side, since it is HCl, it tastes pretty gnarly. It a special kind of sour. I don’t mind it too much, but it can ruin a pre-workout if you add it to one. It can actually make some taste good however, like a grape flavored bcaa can instantly turn into a sour grape. Gotta play around with it.
As for dosing, one scoop per day. Can’t really get much better than that.
—-Effectiveness—-
Well, to put it simply, this works just as good as monohydrate does. Creatine HCl does tend to kick in quicker than mono, at least in my experience.
The biggest thing I notice with HCl is that I do not bloat like I do with mono. I’m going to get hate for that, because even I tell people to simply “drink more water”. That simply does not work for me. At 1.5 gallons a day, I still bloat up from mono. So, I tend to go with HCl when I find it cheap enough. I never got any bloat from this creatine, which is great.
I got the typical effects out of this, the few extra reps, better endurance, easier initial reps… Nothing I didn’t expect and everything I did expect, which is exactly what I wanted.
Some say that mono doesn’t agree with their stomach, I personally do not have this problem, and didn’t have it with HCl either.
—-Value—-
One tub will run you $16. This is not ridiculously expensive, but still quite a bit higher than your basic mono. 5 grams of creatine mono can easily run you under 9 cents a day depending on where you look. Well, this creatine HCl can is over 50 cents a day! This is pretty much the killer right there. I simply can’t recommend something that gives you the same benefits but is 5x more expensive and comes with a sour taste that isn’t pleasant.
In the end you’re looking at $0.08 cents a day vs $0.53 cents a day
—-Side Effects—-
Besides that face you make when you taste that sourness, none.
—-Conclusion—-
While this product is something I personally would prefer to take over mono, I can’t recommend it for anyone else. Even now, I have creapure sitting around due to the price being lower, and knowing that any water retention I get from it will go away simply by me stopping its use. While I don’t swell up with HCl, I don’t think that is worth paying 5x more.
The sour taste sucks, the price really sucks, and the results are nothing different to CreaPure. Don’t pick this up, I might if I decide to take creatine on a cut and want to avoid water retention that only I seem to get when I run creapure, but who knows when that will be, if ever.
onder18 –
My new go to creatine hcl.
Hello SR. Onder18 here. Time to put up a review for my new go to creatine hcl. Beyond Raw Chemistry Labs creatine hcl.
—-Ingredient Profile—-
So the ingredient profile is pretty simple. Creatine hcl. Nothing else. 4 grams per scoop.
—-Taste/Mixability/Dosing—-
So the dosing is one scoop and it’s 4 grams. This is the most I’ve seen for creatine hcl at one scoop for any product. Most products use a 750 mg. serving. They say that you don’t need as much creatine when using the hcl form. I’m not sure how true this is but the 4 grams per serving here did an excellent job for me. As for the taste it was unflavored which meant that it had a very sour taste. Not bad but definitely noticeable. Those of you that had creatine hcl before know what I mean. Mixability was excellent. Instantly disolves in water. I dosed this at one scoop in the mornings when I got up and one scoop pre workout.
—-Effectiveness—-
So for me this was an excellent creatine. Some people will say you only need Creapure and won’t use anything else. That could be very true for a lot of people but I believe everyone has different effects with different things and hcl creatine works better for a lot of people including me. The results I got with this creatine were solid gains in strength and endurance. Nothing ground breaking but subtle and noticeable. Couple extra reps on most movements and a few extra pounds. Cumulative effects. I noticed some benefits right away but the longer I was on this the better the results. Pretty much the same I get with monohydrate just at a slightly faster rate. I did hit Pr’s in a lot of lifts while on this creatine including my bench press and pull ups. I don’t think it was only because I was on this creatine. I think my training was the main reason but this did help. I actually feel creatine hcl better than other creatines when I take it pre workout. I think this definitely helped with my pump when I took it pre workout whether I took it by itself or with a pre workout. My rest time between sets was reduced and my muscle fullness and hardness was improved and noticable.
—-Value—-
$16.99 for 30 4 grams servings at GNC. In my opinion an excellent value for creatine hcl. This seemed to be a hot topic in the first review for this product. So I’m not basing this rating on creatine in general but on creatine hcl. I think that was the debate on the last review. I know you can get creatine monohydrate for dirt cheap. But my review is on hcl and I have not seen a better value than this. I haven’t seen a serving size this big either. A lot of people can half scoop this and stretch it out to 60 days. Or you can get the 60 serving container for $28.99.
—-Side Effects—-
None. No bloat what so ever. Sometimes with mono I get a little bloat but not with this. If I don’t drink enough water I would get some cramps and a dry mouth. But that was my own fault because everyone knows with creatine you need to drink more water.
—-Conclusion—-
So for a creatine hcl product I think this is a champion. This can be a staple or a change of pace for some people. There is even a study out now comparing creatine hcl and monohydrate and the hcl seemed to come out a bit favorable. I think it was an Italian study. I’m not sure. If you Google creatine hcl studies it should come up and I’m sure it is on Ergo log. But either way to each their own. I like hcl creatine, mono, nitrate and kre alkalyn and have gotten good results with all of them. I just like creatine hcl the best and this particular one happens to be my favorite.
So that’s my review guys. I hope you found it helpful.