Tag: Sierra Nevada

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Review – Northern Hemisphere Harvest Wet Hop IPA

The name tells you all you need to know.  Which is why it is so long.  This is the 4th of a 5 beer series from Sierra Nevada.  This and the Wild Hop beer being the ones that caught my attention.

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What I liked about the Wet Hop is the simplicity of the ingredients:

  • Bittering Hops Wet Centennial
  • Finishing Hops Wet Cascade, Centennial

That is it.  And boy does it impart flavor.  This IPA is half danky earth and the other half is straight up Orange juice.  It really struck me at first the power of the flavors.  The aroma is reminiscent to me of orange juice that is sitting on the table with breakfast.  I know it sounds weird but that is what was triggered in my mind.

This is a super bitter beer too.  From first sip to aftertaste, there is a vegetal earthiness that just sticks to the palate and will not let go.  This from a beer that was bottled at the end of September.  I can’t imagine the IBU punch on a fresh bottle!  But as much as it is bitter that juice note doesn’t give up either.  I would probably call this a Double IPA taste wise even though the ABV is only at 6.7%

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Up From the Cellar – Brux Domesticated Wild Ale from Russian River & Sierra Nevada

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Refermented in the bottle with Brettanomyces bruxellensis, Brux will change and develop over time. Copper-colored, dry and complex, with slightly tart notes of green grass, pear, spice and lemon – this ale will progress in the bottle for many years.

That is part of the brewery description of the domesticated wild ale collaboration between Sierra Nevada and Russian River.

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Back in July of 2012, I had these superlatives for the beer when I sampled it at the Surly Goat: “This is one tremendous beer. Pours a slightly hazy yellow. Barnyard funk greets the nose but does not overwhelm. The taste is sprightly with some funk and sour melding together. Some fruit notes tag along for the ride as well.”

But what do I think now that is has aged a bit.  Can it possibly get better?

Short answer.  No.  Not that the orange color that replaced the hazy yellow is an issue.  Nor is their a diminishment of barnyard funk.  What has changed and not for the better in my view is that last bit of fruit has faded off into the sunset and for sunrise there is a bit of a band-aid note at the back end that is a bit gacky on the palate.  And by gacky, I mean a flavor that erases the goodwill that came before and replaces it with a slightly rubber taste.  There is a nice tartness here though and the first 85% of the beer is fine even though it doesn’t reach the heights of 2012.

The Verdict?  Maybe this beer was in a trough.  Some beers go through phases (like a teenager) where they are unlikeable.  Would another year make this better? Or improve where it is?  Won’t know now but that is the fun of experimenting with beer aging.  The unknown.

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One Hop to Chico

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. was so last month with their Beer Camp.  I know but they also have a 2nd year ace up their sleeve in the Single, Fresh, Wet & Wild® Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 18, at its brewery in Chico, California.

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Close to 50 breweries will bring beer(s) that fit into one of four categories:

  • Single hop beers: Features only one hop variety
  • Fresh hop beers: Uses dried hops that are picked, shipped and added to the brew kettle within weeks of hop harvest
  • Wet hop beers: Uses un-dried hops that are picked, shipped and added to the brew kettle within days of hop harvest
  • Wild hop beers: Features hops found untamed in nature. At the inaugural Single, Fresh, Wet & Wild, Sierra Nevada poured a beer made using wild hops from nearby Whitmore.

Tickets go on sale today and will set you back $75.  But like the Firestone Invitational, this is the type of event that is worth it and is frankly on my bucket list as well. Especially if you are one of the hop fiends out there.

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Review – Yonder Bock from Cigar City & Sierra Nevada

Does Sierra Nevada teamed with Cigar City create something different?  I ask this with the last Beer Camp beer because SoCal gets a few CC collaborations and I have yet to look at the contents of the glass with wonder.  Will Yonder Bock make me wonder?

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I do like the idea of a Tropical Maibock. And the mixture of the guava notes from Calypso hops and the blueberry of what was known as Hop 366 aka Equinox should liven up a stalwart German style. Yonder pours a reddish tinted orange.  Lots of initial foam that fades into the ether completely.  The bock style comes through loud and strong.  The Mai part of the bock doesn’t enter the picture for me.  The aroma carries notes of a tropical cocktail.  One you might find in a tiki bar.  Pineapple and guava come through to my tongue.

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This is certainly more bitter than your average Maibock which usually has more caramel in my reviewing history.  This beer substitutes that for fruit punch and a little residual bitterness in the back.  This is unique and I do like it but it is not the type of beer that blows your palate away at the start.  You do have to search your memory banks to identify the aromas and when they come they do reward you.

I am a bit sad that the Beer Camp has left my ‘fridge.  I wish a new box of 12 was coming down the pike.  I could review these type of beers each month.

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Review – Yvan the Great from Russian River & Sierra Nevada

The penultimate beer from the Variety Box – Beer Camp Across America.  There is but one lonely can remaining.  For this beer Sierra Nevada brewed with the infamous Russian River to produce Yvan the Great.  Named in honor of Yvan de Baets the famed Belgian brewer this is a hoppified version of a Belgian Blonde.  Something that Russian River does very, very well.

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This is a blonde for sure!  This pours an extremely light and extremely clear yellow.  I can see very clearly through it.  I was expecting more hops in the aroma but I am not picking them up.  This drinks Belgian all the way.  Lots of spice.  Clove in the forefront.  I’m getting a ton of vanilla as well.  Ice cream vanilla to be more exact.  No head or lace at all here and not much in the way of bubbles either though it is crisp on the palate.  Towards the back there is a subtle note of orange but you have to reach for it.

I like it but I don’t know if this is what was envisioned if the label copy is to be truly believed.

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Review – Alt Route from Victory & Sierra Nevada

Last review was ESB and now another iconic and oft ignored style, the Alt.  Widmer made their bones on this and an American Wheat.  So how does Sierra Nevada teamed with Victory of Pennsylvania see this style in 2014?  Let’s take the Alt Route and find out…..

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The Alt Route pours a reddish to dark brown.  Lots of bubbles on this one.  This beer really pops.  I had imbibed two other dramatically different beers earlier this day but this one stands out.  That can be hard to do when palate fatigue sets in.  I am getting notes of cola and a little bit of spice here.  Maybe licorice as well. Light and refreshing are descriptors that pop into my mind and stay there.

I don’t know what I was expecting from this.  Maybe something heavier and Germanic but this is almost liquer-ish in flavor profile while not in alcohol. If you had told me that the Bell’s and Victory beers would be my top two, I would not have been shocked but certainly surprised.  This is most certainly my second most favorite beer in the pack.  With only two left!

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Review – There & Back from New Glarus & Sierra Nevada

Oh how I have been looking forward to this collaboration.  One because it is New Glarus and two and ESB. I love this style and I don’t see many out there, and back. How does Sierra Nevada do Extra Special bitter?

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T&B pours a dark orange color.  Not much head or lacing here.  Rapidly faded on both counts.  There is a spice note in this beer very similar to Orange pekoe tea.  I like it.  Good balance of malt here, I’m getting some toast notes.  It is light but well away from watery.  Good carbonated bubbles really add to it.  Simple but not boring.  I think I might be due a trip to England because my taste buds seem to be leaning English of late.  I would have to rank this up there with Torpedo Pilsner and Electric Ray and close to Maillard’s Odyssey.  Top tier stuff.

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Review – Tater Ridge from Asheville & Sierra Nevada

The headline has been shortened Sierra Nevada did not collaborate with the entire city of Asheville.  The co-conspirator in this case is the Asheville Brewers Alliance and the sweet potato.

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Tater Ridge pours a reddish hued brown with a nice amount of lacing on the glass.  I am not getting a heckuva lot of starchy aroma.  Just a hint of toast like malt on the nose.  The taste is a bit on the thin side for my liking.  And it is pretty one dimensional.  Slightly malty but there is no sweetness just a bit of something that I can’t quite put my finger on.  A certain earthiness with minerals that is not helping the cause.

This is probably the weakest of the bunch in my opinion.  I was expecting something stronger with a bigger flavor and it isn’t here.

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Up From the Cellar – 30th Anniversary Black Barleywine from Sierra Nevada

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Originally released in 2010, I bought all four of the XXX anniversary beers from Sierra Nevada, And with Beer Camp rumbling across America, now seemed a good time to open 1/2 of my bottles up. Here is the second of the two a strapping black barleywine…

The initial aroma was not promising for this black barley wine. I had been congratulating myself on my cellar success stories and I felt Karma was coming back around. Jack & Kens was a little too sweet on the nose. Initially there is a swirling mix of caramel and milk chocolate in the pint glass that I am sure (assuming) earlier was balanced out by Cascade hop bitterness. This beer seems just a little off when the hop leaves the building. The barley wine pours a dark brown with a very lasting espresso head. It is still there after 10 minutes of staring.  Might be a new record of sorts.

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As it warms chocolate milk keeps coming to my mind even though the beer is still nicely carbonated. There is a pleasing smoothness here as well with no notes of barrel or sherry at all. But this is all chocolate all the time.  I don’t know if this is what an aged New Albion beer might have tasted like if the brewery had lasted but it is interesting.

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The Verdict? – A qualified failure.  If you had asked me of the two beer that I cracked open, which I would guess would have held up better.  It would have been this one.  Alas, I feel the Imperial Helles Bock did more.  Maybe the loss of hops was too much too overcome or my expectations were too high but this only sort of worked.

 

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Review – Electric Ray from Ballast Point & Sierra Nevada

I will be reviewing ALL 13 of the special Sierra Nevada Beer Camp collaborations this month. I had my non-drinking wife randomly select the order and up next  is Electric Ray brewed with Ballast Point of San Diego.

The Ray/Torpedo pours a golden tinted orange. And at 8.5% this is not your grandpa’s lager or even yesterday’s IPL. Orange is the dominant aroma as well. A just peeled navel to my senses. That follows through in the initial taste as well. Then some grapefruit slips in towards the back.
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It does taste different from a pale or IPA but not by a wide margin. It’s cleaner and drier thanks to the L in the IPL but because of the strength, I think most drinkers would rate this as an IPA.
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In the battle of hoppy beers from this series, I would rate Chico King higher by a few lengths. But the next beer is a hopped up pilsner from Firestone Walker.