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Moonstruck Chocolate has struck out beyond their Oregon home to their neighbors both North and South for a trio of beer + chocolates with Sierra Nevada, Pike Brewing and Breakside Brewing. In my boozy chocolate experience, spice and barrel comes through more than subtle flavors so I would guess that the tripel and the hazy would be true-r to the beers.
Brewport Tap House in El Segundo has expanded their footprint on Main Street and they must have expanded taps because they have 40 Sierra Nevada beers a’coming on the 5th. If any of the beers in the image are ones you are looking to tick, then head out on Thursday.
The clock has struck 8 and Sierra Nevada and Russian River are releasing the 2020 version of Brux, a Wild Domesticated Ale. This is a treat to see this get the yearly release special treatment. If you have not had this before, this will be a fun taste experience.
Let’s dive into the second Christmas beer review and we head to another California standard, Celebration from Sierra Nevada. Filled to bursting with Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops.
Lovely cascading pour. Nice dark red Christmas color. I would classify this more as a red ale rather than Fresh Hop IPA. Big hoppy Cascade hop bite. That lovely hop note really lingers on the palate with a mix of pine and citrus.
When one thinks of Christmas and Sierra Nevada beer, you think Celebration their fresh hop winter seasonal. But dig a little deeper and you find a plum festooned 10%ABV beer as well.
If I was a good enough beer blogger, maybe Kris Kringle or Mrs. Claus (hint, hint) will find one of these bourbon barrel bottles of Torpedo for me to try. I don’t know which dominant flavor will come out on top but it will be interesting to try for sure.
While scrolling through GABF (Great American Beer Festival) Facebook posts, I ran across the following Sierra Nevada, tidbit…
Ken Grossman announced that the original Sierra Nevada brewing system will travel the United states, making occasional stops to brew in celebration of their 40th anniversary. I hope they head to L.A. because that would be a brew day to watch.
Here is your handy link spot to read what I covered in Brew & You in September….
September 5th – Project Barley, A Velvet Glow from Russian River + a state gathering at Long Beach Beer Lab.
September 19th – California Craft Beer Summit in Long Beach plus plenty of Oktoberfest fun.
Now that we are in September, it is seasonally appropriate to talk Oktofest beers. Today, I will compare and contrast the gold standard (since the German collaborations have started) Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest and a local marzen from Chapman Crafted in Orange.
Starting with the latter. This is really quite biscuit rich. That creates a backbone for other flavors to play off of. I get a little citrus note as well as a bit of nutty. Good sparkle to this. May not have the mineral tinge that a classic may have but this is a beer that reminds what happens when malt is in the fore.
The Bitburger 2019 version of the Okto pours a red/brown color. Another malt forward beer but this is a notch or two lighter in both malt character and heft. There is a nice hop character here but the beer overall still tilts to the German side. Searching my memory, this seems like the lightest version so far. Part dunkel and bigger part lager.
Can you believe that Sierra Nevada has reached the 40-year mark? It appears that to mark the occasion they will be sending forth a new hoppy either Pale or IPA depending on if they want to celebrate their iconic pale or the hote-selling Hazy Little Thing.