Sierra Nevada Brewing Co: Stout

Who am I kidding? I can't go a month without drinking a beer. Hell, I can barely go a week.

Well that's good for you the reader and that's really good for me too.

Luckily a lot of stores sell single beers these days. So I quickly picked one up: Sierra Nevada Stout. A staple (and not a seasonal) of Sierra that's occasionally overlooked due to the prevelance of the brewery's pale ale, porter, and wheat beers.

First, this is a good looking beer. Take a look at it. ->
Worth admiring.
Great dark center. Amber-brown edges when thinned. And a thick spongy head that looks like a scoop of coffee flavored ice cream, which recedes in time.

The smell is pretty mild but the taste very strong. Main flavor is a fancy bitter chocolate. Similar to 60% - 70% cacao chocolate that you might find in Switzerland. Coffee and malt flavors come through a little. Starts with a bitter aftertaste that eventually dissipates in a smooth feeling on the tongue.
Overall pretty solid. Nothing crazy, but boy am I glad I purchased it. Cheers.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co: Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale

I was intrigued by Mattie's barleywine post, so I decided to take a crack at one and see if I liked it. But you don't see Barleywine's all that often outside of beer specialty stores so I had to grab the first thing I saw. As it happens, the first Barleywine I stumbled across was by none other than Sierra Nevada.

Bigfoot's taste is complex, but not subtle. This has got to be one of the maltiest beers I've ever had, but its balanced by a pretty healthy dose of hops as well (in true Sierra Nevada style). There's some faint floral notes in there as well, but they pretty much get entirely muscled out of the way by the malt and the hops. That adds up to a truckload of flavor. The beer doesn't have a very heavy body, though.

All in all it's quite tasty, though it's also definitely one for sipping rather than guzzling.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.: Early Spring Beer

Sierra Nevada finally came out with their version of the extra expecial bitter. After 27 years, Sierra has attempted most styles of beer. During Sierra Nevada's production quest, most Californians would attest to the fact that, in time, SVBC can tackle any brew. Now that Sierra finally has embarked on the ESB, we may have to give the brewery a another year to figure out the bitter.

Upon first crack, this beer does have an incredible aroma. Very hoppy and light similar to a quality IPA. While quite aromatic, the taste does not live up to the smell. Although dubbed as an "early spring beer" (possibly in an attempt to confuse causal buyers) this beer is quite bitter. I know what your thinking, 'an extra special bitter is suppose to be bitter'. True. But the beer just doesn't have any of the strong flavors you would expect from this classic British ale. Without any hearty flavors, the after taste is just bitter without anything else, as if one swallowed beer mixed with a little dirt.

Despite that description, the brew is not unpleasant in any sense; it just leaves you wanting more. Definitely enjoyable, but not stellar. If Sierra picks up the malts a little, Early Spring Beer could be exceptional. For now, I would say that this beer is a great introduction to understand the ESB style before moving on to worthier craft. I'm confident that Sierra Nevada will get there. Until next year. Cheers.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.: Celebration Ale

As the holidays fade into blurry memories so do many of the season's limited beer releases. Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale, should never be forgotten.
During the holiday season, Sierra bucks the trend of most microbreweries and releases an IPA instead of a traditional winter warmer. What's lost in malts is made up for in hops. And in taste.

Nothing against winter warmers (I love to reach for a Snow Cap, Winterhook, or Chirstmas Ale on any cold night) but this beer is a wonderful and dare I say, a superior replacement.
You may think an IPA should be a second choice during the holidays, but let me convince you otherwise: As an IPA, Celebration Ale has an darker orangier color than most india pale ales, so it won't look like your sipping on a summer beer. The brew also matches the raised alcohol content of most winter releases to give you that false sense of warmth on a cold night. It's flavor is also plenty strong to match any holiday feast. Most notably there is a very floral hoppiness which is the backbone of the beer. Despite the incredible flowery hops the aftertaste is surprising sweet and leaves a wonderful lingering feeling. Overall its everything you'd want from an IPA or any other winter beverage.

By mid February most winter beers are either sold out, their production shut down, or the remaining cases are stored away. If your local market is business savvy they may throw these remaining winters at customers with a discounted price in an attempt to replace them with the early spring releases. If so, snatch up some Sierra Celebration and hope for a blizzard. Cheers

Sierra Nevada: Harvest Fresh Hop Ale

Sometimes I forget where beer comes from. This beer will remind you.
Beer like most foods, comes from the ground. However while enjoying a brew it is an easy fact to forget.

Sierra Nevada does a great job at reminding you that beer is an agricultural product. Last month I went to Chico, California to drink Sierra Nevada and party like I was still in college. I went to a birthday party at the brewery and restaurant. At Sierra Nevada Brewing Co I was thoroughly surprised how many beers they had on tap; 14 at the time. Naturally, with such a selection I asked every bar tender and waiter what was the best beer that Sierra makes. Unfortunately, my question was too broad. The #1 answer I got was Sierra's Harvest Ale, which was not on tap at the time. As it's a seasonal beer. For the record; the traditional pale ale is so fresh there it is to die for.

I was excited when the latest version of the harvest ale came out recently in bottles, since I had heard so much about it. It's a little more expensive than other one bottle brews. But its a 24 oz bottle. So you get your liquid worth. Back to the beer, Sierra Nevada wrote the book on Harvest ales. Literally. They invented the idea. A harvest ale, for all intents and purposes, is a pale ale brewed with fresh hops. Eleven years ago, SNBC picked their hops (they ship in most but have their own field too), and then instead of drying them (think the Sam Adams TV commercials with the brewmaster with the piles of dried hops) brewed a batch of beer with the fresh hops. Most breweries didn't have the size, money, and capability to pick their own hops, ship 'em to their brewery, and install the proper filtration system to make it all work. But for the past 11 years Sierra has been making it happen.

The harvest ale does look and taste like a traditional american pale ale. Darker golden color, with a bitter taste that you want from a pale. However, the best feature of this ale is the resins from the hops are more flavorful because they do not lose their flavor in the process of drying. Sierra also claims that keeping the hops fresh adds aromas and spices. I actually disagree (no extra aromas or spices in my opinion), but you can taste the hoppy resin. According to Sierra staff, only 7 other breweries last year made harvest ales. Most agree that Sierra Nevada is doing the best job because their vast experience in this unique ale. However, this beer is good but not as great as hyped. I really like SN and was hoping it would be a top 10. No luck. But it is a fun taste and a twist on the traditional pale. And this beer also reminds you that at harvest time Sierra Nevada is taking 8,000 pounds of hops and making it into beer in a 2 day period. Which is a cool concept. Beer comes from the ground, who knew?

Cheers