Sierra Nevada Tumbler Brown Ale +Hi-Times Chili Fest

I like brown ales. I do. I like them when they are meaty and malty with a teensy bit of roast like Moose Drool from Big Sky Brewing. That's why I was looking forward to trying this Brown from Sierra on tap at the Hi-Times Chili Fest. It left me wanting.

It was a little bitter, not malty, and a little thin. It didn't really taste that much different than a darker Coors with a little more weight behind it. I had such high hopes. Too bad

D and I did have a good time, though short because it was hot and there were too many "bros" there. My favorite chili came from a custom butcher that was offering steak bites alongside their chili and D's had beer front and center in the taste profile. Go figure. They both were good though.

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.

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra Pale

This was actually a present surprise. I mean, I know that Sierra Nevada was one of the very first craft breweries to start the revolution and coming from Chico, CA near my hometown I've naturally had a few of their ubiquitus pale ales but I really wasn't expecting much out of this EXTRA IPA. I was wrong. Did it blow my mind? No. But it was good.

This was another PREbachelor party brews that was picked up by my buddy from NorCal who's pretty obsessed with Sierra.

On the nose there was some pine, grapefruit, all the normal smells out of a classic IPA, which is pretty much what this is. A very classic, non-over-the-top West Coast IPA. Not too bitter, not too sweet. Nice head and retention. Crystal clear coppery orange.

It was good. I'd get a six.