Boisterous coffee bean bitterness overwhelms affable hazelnut-walnut surroundings and ashy cocoa scurry of reliable mahogany body. Maple oats enrich black cherry nuance. Astoundingly thicker and more hop-roasted than greater Rogue Hazelnut Brown Ale.
(SILENRIEUX) SARA BUCKWHEAT ALE
Smoked cereal malting, grassy spelt graining and rhubarb-like buckwheat dryness drape compost-wafted prune intensity to wheat wine finish. Each sip brings out more of its voluptuous plum-raisin-prune character and tannic yellow grape souring above mildewed barnyard funk. Uncomplicated… subtle.
(SILENRIEUX) JOSEPH SPELT ALE
Sturdy white-headed amber witbier hems mildly hop-embittered banana-clove couplet next to earthen nut-grain compaction. Orange rind dryness and lemony tartness coat tongue after few sips. Carbolic hop fizz depletes candied sugar slip and desolate baked bread spread.
SIERRA NEVADA UNFILTERED WHEAT
Lacking sufficient wheat essence, pale medium body relies instead on moderate herbal-spiced citric-berry austerity. Bittersweet fruit tang, hop-charred maple stead and sour nutty bottom receive fresh watered crisping. Not as aggressive as better, more refined wheat ales.
SIERRA NEVADA SUMMERFEST 2006 PILSNER
Marginally better bottle-conditioned ’06 version of Czech-styled pilsner layers sleekly soft floral-hopped grapefruit-lemon fizz, thin green grape-apricot-apple sass, and earthen barnyard waft atop fragile cracked wheat spine. Pale translucent body and white head seem as delicate as its baked bread finish, but metallic tinge impairs mild rye sag.
SIERRA NEVADA SUMMERFEST 2000 PILSNER
Well-balanced bottom-fermented seasonal retains lively citrus zest, sweet berry-cherry conflux, and sharp hop bitterness. Effervescent.
SIERRA NEVADA SUMMERFEST PILSNER
Original bottom fermented ‘summer’ lager’ (circa 1998?) invigorates creamy caramel malt slurp with wheat-backed fruitiness. Berry slip and floral dip maintain good ol’ rural summer feel. Overt carbonation prohibits well-meshed ingredients to shine, though bittersweet hop thrust intensifies.
SIERRA NEVADA STOUT
Robust, billowy tan-headed, tawny brown-bodied dry stout brings maple-smoked chocolate roast to caramel-burnt cookie dough center, saturating mildly hopped earthen grains. Underneath bitter mocha finish lies vanilla-spiced nectar fruiting and unlikely sarsaparilla snip.
SIERRA NEVADA SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE HARVEST FRESH HOP ALE
Despite lengthy appellation, refreshingly clean American pale ale maintains concise gusto. Grain-toasted honey-suckled orange blossom tang remedies grapefruit rind-soured piney hop bittering. Subtle apple, peach, pear, and tangerine tang rises above caramel malting. Subdued floral spicing adorns grassy earthen backdrop.
SIERRA NEVADA PORTER- CASK CONDITIONED
Cask conditioned version tried at Manhattan watering hole d.b.a.’s had soft-tongued stove-burnt coffee endurance and dry-hopped black chocolate sequence. Black cherry subsidy fades into sour fig, ashy wood, and charred walnut. At modest finish, root extract sidles mocha vigor.
SIERRA NEVADA PORTER
Lactic tan-headed brown-bodied chocolate porter with rich caramel endurance, sinewy yeast thread, and permeating nutty undertones nearly lets heavy carbonation drown mocha malt seepage to assertive bitter hop finish. Rigid alcohol burn depletes musty dried fruiting .
SIERRA NEVADA PALE BOCK
Promising mocha malt essence and creamy maple-sapped sugaring enrich nutty pine needled bottom. Invasive dry-hopped bittering overwhelms distant berry tang to tutti-frutti finish.