I’m waiting for Cannon and Jim to come help brew batch #2 tonight…oh look what’s in my fridge! YUM. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale has emerged quickly as one of my favorites, but I haven’t really expanded to see what else the brewery does…until now. Hops away!

Brewery Home: Chico, CA

Serving Style: 12 oz bottle into pint glass

Beer Style: American IPA

Appearance: Dark gold or light amber, stong red hues. Thin but strongly lacing head. Body is clear, bubbly and superbly refreshing-looking. Further down the glass I was impressed how strong the head was sticking to the glass, wonderful!

Aroma: Jumps into your nose with Magnum and other American hops, hints of citrus and possibly pine (not woody but sap smell). The end finishes with muted malts, great balance. It may not have the ‘insane’ hop/spice roundhouse kick as other American counterparts (Rogue), but nonetheless appealing.

Taste: The smooth malts came at me first in the initial sip but faded quickly into determined, pine-y hops. The backend is complex with a mixture similar to the aroma (I do get more citrus here in the taste however). Finishes very dry and bitter – Jenny didn’t like this but I loved it – with plenty of hop bite. Sierra Nevada’s website says this beer’s IBUs are in the 70s. The high ABV is well masked by hyperactive hops when the beer is colder, I had 3 of these before I realized it sits around 7%…yeah, I was feeling good. As the beer warms the alcohol edge becomes jumps up a little bit, but the mixture with the citrus and pine notes of the hops reminded me of good gin, interesting.

ABV: 7.2%

Drink one or all?: 3 or 4 easily if you’re feeling hoppy. Great session beer.

Cost: $8/sixer

Overall: 16/20. I like – and will have again – but not as striking (or clean) as their pale ale in my opinion.