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I know a fair bit about beer styles and I understand that labels will stretch definitions for marketing reasons but I am a bit confuzzled by this Sierra Nevada label that says both Pale Bock and Malt Liquor.
There is probably a flavor overlap and I am quite interested to try the beer but it seems to be sending a mixed message to me.
The two collaborating breweries for this hazy DIPA need no introduction. But the reason for highlighting Get Comfortable 2021 is not the hops but rather, the fact that this is another charity beer. You get great beer and the world gets better.
Sierra Nevada was going to travel their brew kettle around so that folks could see where the famously pale ale started. But the recent fires across California gave them a better opportunity. They took their equipment to Quincy, a California because Quintopia Brewing lost their equipment to fire. Now the brewhouse will serve as temporary stopgap so that the small brewery can pour beer at their taproom.
Are your polka dancing skills rusty? Well thanks to staying at home, you don’t have to train this year. Sierra Nevada will be OktoFesting virtually. They will stream a concert featuring Empire Strikes Brass & The Polka Brothers. Start dancing on the 19th right HERE. And the beer they release each year is damn tasty if you just want to tap your toes.
Sierra Nevada does not stop when it comes to hops. And thanks to Sunset Beer Co. selling singles, it is easy to cheaply taste test among their offerings which I did in November as well. Let’s check the two out…
Hazy Little Thing
Seems pretty clear to me. The aroma just popped out when the can was opened. Lots of orange soda taste here. Soft pillowy texture. Candy-esque
Hop Bullet DIPA
“Spring Seasonal” in shelves in December? Pours a clear orange color. Sharp and medium bitter. Grassy and a skosh dank. Some orange notes.
This is a hard call. Both beers are as advertised. The way-too-early “Spring” moniker is minus points but the HLT is just too tilted to a candy flavor that is a bit much for me. I say go old school and bite the bullet.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is bringing their Camp of Beer to LA next year. They recently announced their 2nd Beer Camp Across America (BCAA) 2016 festival tour and Los Angeles is on the six city list. Scheduled on Saturday, June 25th, 2016.
Line-Up and ticket information will be fleshed out next year but look for locals and close to L.A. breweries such as:
· Beachwood BBQ & Brewing
· Port Brewing Co./The Lost Abbey
· Bagby Beer Co.
· Societe Brewing Co.
· Smog City Brewing Co.
Orange as a pumpkin, or the New Black is my take on the color of this latest Harvest beer from Sierra Nevada. To me the proof is in the pudding though. I love the idea of the series as it stands but the execution hasn’t thrilled me. I’ve had good beers but nothing to reach the level of the iconic pale or the Torpedo IPA.
This new beer does have some nice orange juice notes to it. Not super laden down either, it has a nice bubbly texture to it. There is also some wine grape notes stuck in there as well primarily from the aroma. This is the type of beer that could elicit different flavor responses from each person that tries it. The bitterness is a notch too strong and a little tannic to me.
This is an interesting effort. Better than others in the series but still hampered by attributes that don’t work for me.
Sierra Nevada Brewing will be embarking on a yearly collaboration of Germanic proportions when they collaborate with Augsburg’s Brauhaus Riegele, for a brand new Oktoberfest beer.
I have, of late, bemoaned a lack of foreign beers in our mad dash for the most hyperlocal so this beer will shoot to the top of my list when it comes out in August because maltier beers deserve a place at the table too.
In any variety pack there are beers you mark as special and this was one that I dog-eared when I first saw it. How would two California Beer Titans mesh into one beer.
Well Torpedo Pilsner from Firestone Walker and Sierra Nevada pours a yellow to orange color. The first taste and aroma is Sweet Tart candy. Bitterness is there but that unique candy taste is the boss. Some citrus but it us sweet orange not Farmers Market orange. Their is a lightness and metallic bit that is the pilsner part if the equation. Very light and almost a pils version of Easy Jack except for a lingering perfume aroma and taste. I’m getting flower shop mixed with parfumerie type of feel here. The Southern Cross and Motueka hops used haven’t given me this flavor and aroma profile before so I don’t know what alchemy the two breweries have been up to but this is quite unique.
First things first, this is the Boulevard branded version of Terra Incognita. Now onto what else I am watching/listening/reading while reviewing. Why? Because great craft beer makes me enjoy all the good things in life. Kinda new age-y but that is fine. So I am on a season 1 of Fringe kick right now. If you are a Netflix-er. Catch it there. I am also a big fan of the ESPN/Bill Simmons/McSweeney’s mash-up Grantland. Funny and spot on sports reporting/commentary as well as culture analysis of Mad Men that will leave you rolling.
On to this mash up of Chico and Kansas City…..The cork shot out of this bottle. Lots of foam initially, followed by a big blast of barrel aged notes. Whiskey. Not bourbon heavy. Still quite effervescent after settling down. Getting some acidity and hop bitterness after the oaky notes fade. Amazing that it is 8.5% when you consider how strong the aroma and taste is. But it is indeed light when you let it linger on the tongue.
