Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale

I am a little surprised that this beer is not rated better than it is, but I love this beer. This is another winner in my book! Sierra Nevad used to have one or two good beers, a great seasonal beer [Celebration Ale] and several decent beers. Not anymore ... they are creating some real winners! This beer has a great hop aroma, if I didn’t know better, I would say this tastes as if they dry hopped it [most likely with Cascade hops ... possible Centennial hops]. They pulled out all the stops in hopping this beer a time when hops are relatively rare and quite expensive! The body of this beer is perfect, the maltiness is balanced perfectly against the hop bitterness [which is fairly bitter]. It is hopped like a bigger IPA than it is as far as my impression goes, but it is lighter in body [yet balanced] .... they made this work with a very precise choice of aroma hopping. Truly excellent. This beer does not show much in the way of caramel notes, and I think that is probably a good thing for an IPA [and for most of Sierra Nevada’s beers, they stick to light caramel malts if they use them]. I think the color of the beer is a little off .. I don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t have a "rich" color to balance the flavor of the beer [this does NOT affect my enjoyment of this beer in anyway]. The beer holds a good head, so their is a fair amount of protien ... so many American brewers do an unnecessary protien rest on their ales and ruin the body [and the head]. Great job Sierra Nevada!

Not much to say. Crushed with Honkeybra before a redneck demo derby. Took it from the bottle so have to guess on the appearance, but it’s one I’d try again.

12 oz. bottle from Whole Foods Charlottesville. Reddish amber pour with a nice three finger head. Great retention. Pine and citrus hop aroma. Very strong hop taste, vegetal and very fresh. Some sweet malts to back it up. Refreshing.

Didn’t know this was an IPA when I bought this, pleasant surprise.. Grassy hops and some citrus i guess(barely). crisp, slightly bitter back end.

Bottle. A clear, golden beer with a small off-white head. Fruity nose, of the tropical kind, with malty sweetness and piney hops. Quite sweet flavor with fruityness, pine and resin, but not as bitter as expected. Medium to full body, and a nice fruity and resiny finish. Good drinkability, but not a thirst-quencher.(080620)

Thankfully, the event I was at had this beer on tap, and I went to this one several times over the course of a few days. The aroma carries a nice spicey pine aroma with a bit of citrus thrown in for good measure. The flavor has a good balance of citrus hops and biscuity/caramel malts. Very easy to drink and quite refreshing, especially when the choices were severly limited.

From the 2008 version. Piney aroma, modest creamy head with good lacings. Full amber color, nice citrus grapefruit hops with a good malt backup. Nice IPA.

Bottle thanks to Ethan. 2008 Anniversary. Pours hazy orange/amber with foamy one-finger white head that recedes but stays around. This beer is nothing super special, but I really loved it. Tasted so fresh. Great citrus and the perfect amount of resiny Cascade hops. Not too strong. Crisp, refreshing. An excellent session beer.