Sierra Nevada Hoptimum

Brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Chico, California USA

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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Great upfront hop notes. Smooth texture. Poured from bottle to ipa glass. Great hoppy beer. Need more whole cone ipas

12oz bottle - pours pale amber with ivory head and great lacing. Nose is pine, citrus and urine alley way. Flavor adds caramel undertones. Bitter. Easy to drink considering the ABV and extreme hoppiness. This is good. "Smoke bomb".

Pours an orange Amber that’s nice and clean with a full white head that laces its way down the glass. aroma is hops on hops in your face. Super intense with some booze and resiny pine. Some sweetness in there too, maybe a bit fruity. Taste hits with some malty sweetness, but is quickly taken over by hops. Lots of bitter pine hops with a sweet backbone. Long bitter finish.

Big bold aroma of tropical fruit, citrus, and pine. Pours a clear light amber with a thin white head. This is a monster hop attack with just enough malt backbone to keep from collapsing under it’s own weight. The finish is long and bitter. If you like IIPA’s, and you’re a hophead, try this beer.

Pours medium golden, very little off white head, lots of alcohol legs streaming up and hop particles glaring about. Big citrus, pine, floral and tropical hops up front on the nose, get a bit of bready malt and alcohol as well. Taste follows the nose, huge citrus, pine, floral, tropical hops right away, slightly sweet bready malt mid mouth, alcohol present throughout, not overly bitter at all, finish is more bready malt, big hops and alcohol. Medium carbonation, medium full body, a good amount of alcohol heat and slight astringency, real nice spicy hop presence. Overall very good double + ipa, very big beer, a sipper, not easy drinking, very complex hop presence. Definitely an a beer.

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a tulip. The first sign of a well-crafted beer is a strong appearance after it is poured out of the bottle. Hoptimum has a full, thick frothy white cap resting on top of a golden caramel color beer. A nice bit of carbonation rises up from the bottom of the glass to replenish the cap. Simcoe hops come through in all of their glory first. As with most other whole cone hop beers, the aroma feels full and complete. This aroma is full on the pine, spices, and dank hop aromas and a bit light on the citrus notes. There are some grapefruit, mango,and tangerine notes coming through. A bit of light, sweet malt exists as an afterthought. Up front there is a straw and honey sweetness that quickly fades and makes room for a huge hop presence. Simcoe is again the most dominant with its spicy pine flavors. It becomes quite bitter, without any real fruit to add balance to it. I enjoy the completeness of the flavors that come from using whole cone hops, and this is no exception. The spicy pine, herbal, and light citrus flavors are all developed in a very full way. The finish is quite bitter. The rich, creamy carbonation really helps to reduce the impact of the 10.4% ABV on the palate, but the alcohol is still noticeable in the throat and stomach. Although it is creamy and smooth, there is a fair amount of hop oil and residue that are left on my lips after each sip. The hops create mostly a spicy bite sensation, and it is fairly dry. I enjoy Sierra Nevada’s whole cone hop beers, but I think the combination of hops in this one just did not push it over the edge for me.

This is big but not over powering. Strong presence up front and finish. I also get slight nuttiness.

Aroma is clear amber , thin white head. Huge hop aroma, grapefruit, orange, some honey sweetness, some floral notes, light resin and pine. Taste is bold pine and orange, cereal sweetness, bitter punch, sour grapefruit, apricot. Body is bigger, smooth carbonation, coats your mouth.

Hazy copper. White head. Sweet hoppy aroma. The flavor is bitter and hoppy but finishez a bit sweet.

Bière ambrée avec une fine mousse qui laisse une jolie traîne de dentelle. Au nez : du houblon frais, un peu de caramel et de l’alcool donnent le ton... mais c’est en bouche que ça explose. L’amertume du houblon est tranchante, mais fort agréable. On oublie carrément le taux d’alcool qui n’est tout de même pas négligeable (10.4%). Cette Hoptimum rafraîchit les esprits autant qu’elle réchauffe le gosier. Je rêve désormais d’en boire une sur une plage californienne. À environ 3$ la bouteille, j’aurais au moins dû en ramener une caisse à la maison!