Friday, August 20, 2010

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

I distinctly remember trying this beer for the first time from a cooler on our porch when I was in high school. First thought ever of Sierra Nevada? Bleh! Bitter. It took me a long time to come back to it.

Sierra Nevada is one of the first craft brewing companies. Their omnipresent pale ale though is one of the few beers you will find in grocery stores though despite how large they've become. I've seen their Torpedo which I reviewed. They have their Summerfest which I will be reviewing, and strangely I've seen their Bigfoot once, it's a barleywine. Aside from stores IN Chico, Ca where they are based you are pretty much left with the choice between Pale Ale, and, Pale Ale. Which, in the end, is not a bad choice. In fact, of the commercially available Pales I have tried and can get at a regular grocery store I would rank it third behind Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale and Kona Brewing's Fire Rock.

Coming off the top of the glass is boiler plate Pale, a teeny bit of pine and then, beer. It pours a golden amber color. Not quite as coppery as the Torpedo(IPA) but a nice color.
It's quite a bit more bitter than many Pale's which is good and bad. If I'm going off of strictly style then I don't think it fits as well but it's a very solid offering just going off of taste alone. It's a clean, crisp, pale that won't blow you away but will leave you wanting another one. Just ask my NorCal friends who seem to own stock in Sierra the way it goes down.

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