Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale

Brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Chico, California USA

Bottle. Fresh, fruity aroma with mild hop aspect. Nice. Clear amber with steady carbonation. Big, off-white head with excellent lace. Piney and somewhat doughy mouthfeel. Good balance. Not spectacular but an excellent session brew with no flaws. Less full bodied than the flagship SNPA. Too bad this is a special brew that will be going away. Underrated (macro-bias).

Says 2008 on the bottle. Thin head. Crisp dark amber. Delicious hop aroma with a caramel malt backing. Woody hop flavour. Nice malt balance. A bit bitter and mouth drying but tasty.

From a twelve ounce bottle purchased at a Cincinnati, Ohio "Krogers" - This one pours a golden liquid with a tall, fast-fading white head of foam and a strong, citrusy aroma. Tastewise, it’s a fine IPA, but a tad lacking in dody for the style... no end taste.

TN finally gets a third SN! (sigh) Pale orangey amber. Despite an enthusiastic pour, the lumpy, cratered foam quickly falls from less than two fingers two a steady quarter inch; gauzy lace curtains adorn my glass. Redolent with sharp and citric, yet remarkably restrained, Cascade nose... resiny, pithy grapefruit and pinesap. Faint chevre and apricot background aromas. On the tongue, it is less aggressively hopped than the bouquet suggests; an excellent balance of toasty malt and cleany citric hop flavor. The typical fingernails-on-blackboard quality of this hop variety is thankfully muted. Peachy finish, clean aftertaste with a twang of bitterness. Medium-bodied; a mild Velcro carbonation tempers the otherwise creamy/chewy texture. Simple, elegant, classic. Top notch pale ale that nestles somewhere between "American" and "India".

2008 Vintage: Plenty of pungent resinous pine spiciness and citrus/floral hops in the nose along with a nice round underlying malt profile. Clear deep golden body is topped by a generous, fine bubbled, long lasting, off white head that lasts throughout and coats the glass with lacing. Flavour seems a bit more restrained than the nose would indicate. Hops are not quite as resinous and the fruity character is a bit subdued. Also find the malt flavour to be a bit drier than I was expecting. Still quite tasty but not as exciting as I thought it would be. The texture is fantastic. Creamy smooth with wonderful soft bubbled but firm and lasting effervescence. Shaker glass. Allowed to warm from fridge temperature. Bottle (Hi Time, Aug-08).

Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a vibrant amber color with a very large yellow-white head. The aroma was strong floral and fruity hops. Very distinct hops on the nose. The flavor was sour, bitter an had hint of nutty malts that quickly become overwhelmed by crisp - almost gritty floral and fruity hops. The beer was drier than I expected. The finish was very long and hoppy. Very nice.

Pours a rugged copper color with a fluffy head of off-white. Laces in chunks. Huge hoppy aromas! Inviting and sweet and candyish. Pine sap and sticky resins. I’m drooling. Flavors smack the palate around with some big notes of pine and oils. Crystalline sugars on the tastebuds are washed with a thick syrup of pine. Maltiness is solid with a firm caramel base, anad the layered hops on top just blow me away. Wow, this was a good beer.

Bottled. I call it Celebration Light. Pours amber with a dirty white head. Aroma is huge citrus hops with grass and floral notes. The flavor starts with a strong hop taste combining citrus/floral/grapefruit. Has a lighter malt finish. It is almost as if there is no lingering flavor after the initial assault, which makes this a perfect session brew.