HOPS, HOPS, EVERYWHERE and Lots of Drops to Drink...
Written: May 23 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Full frontal assault of hops flavor and aroma
Cons: Flavorful beers are not for everyone...
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| mrkstvns's Full Review: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 6 Pack |
Hundreds of modern craft breweries have an American style pale ale as their flagship brand, but few can claim to define the style. Sierra Nevada can. It's been around for almost 20 years, and it's one of the best, most hoppy craft brewed beers you can buy!
Style:
American pale ales have a firm malt base with a little bit of complexity, but the real key is in the hops. These are hoppy beers. Real hoppy! Some blur the distinction between American pale ale and India pale ale. But in American pale ales I look for the signature of those American hop varieties -- especially a citric grapefruit aroma and flavor. I want plenty of hops in the nose, and plenty in the aroma. Color is usually somewhere between a deep gold and a lightly orange amber (hovering around 10 on the SRM scale). These are moderately full bodied beers with gravities just above normal (maybe 12 to 14 Plato).
Sample Conditions:
This beer is widely sold throughout the U.S. on tap and in bottles. I've had it recently on tap in a better quality restaurant, and am sampling a bottle that I purchased from a larger liquor store where I got it in a 12-pack box from a cool room.
Evaluation:
Appearance: Pale golden bronze color with a thick rocky head and aggressive carbonation.
Aroma: Big blast of grapefruit! Redolent with Cascade hops (or a similar American strain). Touch of caramel sweetness, but the nose is really just hops, hops, and more hops.
Flavor: Full body with a lot of sweet malt flavors laying a foundation for the huge hop flavor. Hops dominate this beer, and it comes through in the flavor as an unmistakable sharp citric character; the citric hops signature is a sure sign that the brewers are using Cascade or a similar American hop strain. Good naturedly rough in character with some fruitiness.
Brewer Notes:
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is one of the most successful, most respected pioneers in the craft brewing industry. Originally cobbled together by two homebrewers in 1981, the brewery is now almost certainly one of the top 5 craft breweries in the United States. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is their flagship brand, and it's one of the beers that pioneered the American pale ale style and is widely acknowledged as one of the beers that best exemplifies the style. The beer is slightly heavier than normal (13 Plato) with about 5% alcohol.
Overall Impression:
Masterful! The huge hop character really showcases the distinctive character of one of America's most popular hop varieties, and it does it through a full frontal assault, with tons of hops in the nose, in the flavor, and lingering in the aftertaste long after the last swallow is gone.
Be warned though! This beer won't be for everyone. It is assertive, it is bold, it gets in your face. It is a beer for people who revel in the sensations of flavor and aroma. It is not for people who really prefer drinking water. I don't recommend Sierra Nevada Pale Ale for weak-kneed, wimpy, limp-wristed girly men who can't stand bold flavors. There's Bud Light for those people...
People who really love great beers invariably love Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It's an American original!
Recommended:
Yes
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