Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale

Bottle, #398   Copper pour with nice sized head. Lightly hoppy aroma with a much hoppier flavor. Still not one of the hoppier IPAs. Good brew though.

Say what you will about Sierra Nevada. I know they aren’t exactly the hippest thing on the block by the bearded, beer-bellied masses but they deliver damn decent beer for a reasonable price that you can get anywhere. Besides, they are pioneers and being a pioneer is awesome. (Ask Daniel Boon.) This is why I’m glad they are around on this, their twenty-eighth, anniversary and why you should be too. As far as the beer itself, it is suitably par the course for the good folks at Sierra Nevada, which is to say its hoppy but not overly ridiculous about it. It’s clear amber in appearance w/ a big old head of large bubbles. The aroma is actually pretty incredible. It smells like tossing hops into a brew-kettle, very rich and piney. Unfortunately this doesn’t have quite the body or flavor to match the aroma. It’s actually very thin, watery even. I’d have to say it’s probably not even as good as regular SNPA which is disappointing given that rant I wrote up there.

This is a good beer overall. Has the hoppiness of an IPA but not quite the same bite the most IPA’s have.

Hazy amber, lasting beige head.Slightly tinny sweet nose. Rather subdued start, medium strength lasting hop finish

Pours light transparant orange with an off white head. Has a nice crisp, light hop aroma. Great balance in the flavor, right amount of hops (some pine notes) and bitterness with a nice sweetness of malt to balance it out. Might not wow you but certainly a solid IPA.

12 oz bottle from Thriftway - This beer looked awesome in the glass. I couldn’t wait to drink it! It didn’t quite taste as good as it looked, but it was still very entertaining. Kinda like an Angelina Jolie movie.

V - clear light very orange with a medium fluffy creamy head with solid lacing.
A - strong dose of hops without being citrusy. Touch of vanilla.
T - well loaded with hops fades a bit into astringent and bitter finish. Nice at the start, but lacks a balancing second gear.
P - averageish.

(12oz bottle at home on July 31, 2008) 2008 Anniversary Ale. Lovely head with spotty lacing atop a golden hop-filled brew. Fruity, lightly hoppy aroma. Slow, steady carbonation. Signature Cascades… easy as cheese to pick this beer out of a lineup as a spawn of SN. Taste… (trying to remember what last year’s Anniversary Ale tasted like)... can’t remember, but this one: hoppy, but not like their other brews. I think they actually tried to decorate this one. Piney notes are noticeable, more prevalent as you drink. A nice touch - if not for the pine, it’d be hard for me to tell one SN from the next. Except for the fact that this one tastes much lighter. But still bueno!