Sierra Nevada India Pale Ale

I liked the pale ale better than this one. While this certainly has a bold hop flavor that i like, i thought the more common popular pale ale to be more well rounded. This one was very dry and could have used a little more balance. But, it makes sense to have the IPA be more hop dominant than the pale ale, so cant complain too much.

Bottle. Dated 2006 on the neck. Pours amber with a medium tan colored head. Nose is hoppy and semi-sweet with grapefruit, orange peel, light maple syrup, pine, and creamy malts. Taste is rich hops, creamy malts and light caramel sweetness. More grapefruit notes, light lemon, orange peel, mapley notes, caramel and sweet malts. Not bad. Body is oily with a medium overall mouthfeel and a slightly sharp carbonation tingle. Finishes much the same way it began - hops, citrus fruits and creamy malts. Granted, this is nothing we haven’t all had before, but it’s a pretty nice beer and a great way to end the work day!

The aroma has both hops and malt making it well balanced. However it is weaker than it should be. The appearance is an orange-gold color with a medium head. The flavor is the nicest part of the beer. It is very malty, especially in the finish. However it has enough bitter, citrus, hops to qualify it as an IPA. The palate is full enough to give it an enjoyable mouth feel. It’s a decent beer.

Pours a nice deep amber color. Aromas of hops/hops/citrus. Strong hop flavors with malts and a peppery crisp dry finish.

For the style this was an ordinary looking not much aroma beer but taste wise it was just so easy to drink this will be a must buy a couple more cases next payday. 7% ABV was not even noticed.

2006 bottle: I had pretty high expectations for this beer. So far I have liked everything else that has come out of this brewery. This beer just didn’t do it for me. Very light amber color with no head. Mild carbonation. Similar to the pale ale but with less cascade aromas/flavors and more bitterness. Dull and not much complexity. Not a horrible beer, I was just expecting much more from Sierra Nevada. It’s just a bottle of bitterness and alcohol.

Mild citrus and herbal hops over a fairly apparent fruitiness in the nose. Clear orange-copper coloured body is topped by a wisp of white head that recedes rapidly to ring. Moderate bitterness with floral, and citrus tones and some doughy malt character. Bitterness lingers in the aftertaste. Medium body is quite dry but carbonation feels rather low and mouthfeel is quite unexciting. I really have to hope this is a bad bottle because this was not up to the standard I’d expect from Sierra Nevada. Snifter. Cellar temperature. Bottle (2006 Vintage, Julio’s Liquors, MA, Feb-05).

2006 Bottle. Poured a clear orange color with a thin off-white head. A subdue aroma of grass, citrus and a light malt background. Hop / Malt mix in the flavor. Full bodied that ends dry. Some bitterness throughout but not the big hop bite I look for in an IPA. Better than their Pale Ale but not as great as a Celebration Ale. Still enjoyable.