Sierra Nevada Beer: Is It An Ipa?

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is an American craft beer company that offers a range of India Pale Ale (IPA) beers. The company was founded by Ken Grossman in 1980, and its flagship beer, the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, helped to popularize the use of bold hops in American-style pale ales. Since then, Sierra Nevada has expanded its lineup to include various IPA styles, including double IPAs, imperial IPAs, hazy IPAs, and more. The company's beers are known for their intense hop flavors, aromas, and bitterness, as well as their higher alcohol content compared to pale ales.

Sierra Nevada's Hazy Little Thing IPA

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is based in Chico, California, and is the brewer of Hazy Little Thing IPA. This beer is unfiltered and unprocessed, and is served straight from the tanks to let all the fruit-forward hop flavors shine. It has a modest bitterness and an intense hop character.

Hazy Little Thing IPA is a hazy, golden yellow beer with a tall, tight, white frothy head that dissipates slowly. It has a strong flowery and sweet aroma, with possible light lemon notes. The beer has a light to medium body with fine carbonation and a balanced finish.

The taste is described as lightly sweet at the beginning, with faint flavors of orange, guava, and pine, followed by a slow transition to mild bitterness, and a final transition to a bit of citrus tang. The citrus flavors are subdued, and the beer has a slightly rough texture and a somewhat dry finish.

Hazy Little Thing IPA has an ABV of 6.7% and an IBU of 40. It is rated 3.59/5 on average.

Sierra Nevada's Torpedo IPA

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.'s Torpedo Extra IPA is a bold and flavourful American IPA. It has powerful notes of citrus, tropical fruit, pine, and herbs, with a strong hop aroma and flavour. The beer has a 7.2% ABV, which is noticeable in the aftertaste.

The unique flavour of Torpedo is achieved through a custom dry-hopping device called the Hop Torpedo, which maximises the hop flavour and aroma without adding bitterness. This invention is shaped like its projectile namesake and holds roughly 75 pounds of whole-cone hops. The beer flows out of a fermenter, through the Hop Torpedo, and back into the tank, resulting in a supercharged IPA.

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA has received mostly positive reviews, with many praising its strong pine and citrus flavours, as well as its drinkability. Some reviewers have described it as a "great example of what an American IPA should be" and a "perfect example of a rich yet smooth filtered West Coast IPA". However, there are also some reviews that criticise the beer for being too sweet or inconsistent.

The beer has a rating of 4.3 out of 5 on BeerAdvocate, with some reviewers giving it a perfect score of 5. It has been described as having a light head and a caramel colour, with a strong pine aroma and a hint of oat. The taste is described as strongly piney with a light fruity feel, and the beer is said to have a crisp finish.

Overall, Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA is a well-regarded and flavourful IPA that delivers on its promise of maximised hop flavour and aroma. It is a bold and assertive beer that highlights the complex flavours and aromas of whole-cone American hops.

Sierra Nevada's Celebration IPA

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.'s Celebration Ale is an American-style IPA and one of the earliest examples of a hop-forward holiday beer. It has an ABV of 6.8% and features Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook hops, which give it its famous intense citrus and pine aromas. The beer is brewed with generous portions of barley malts and fine whole hops of several varieties, creating a full-bodied, rich, hearty, and hoppy spirit.

Celebration Ale is a seasonal beer, available only from October to December, as it is brewed with freshly picked hops that are rushed from the farm to the brewery. The hops are kiln-dried and transported to the brewery as soon as possible so that the brewers can capture the citrus, pine, and floral notes when they are at their absolute peak. The beer is sought after by retailers and drinkers every season and is recommended to be enjoyed as soon as possible.

Celebration Ale has a deep amber colour and a creamy head with excellent lacing. It has a lively, intense aroma due to being dry-hopped and has notes of pine resin, tangerine, grapefruit, caramel, and malt. The taste is described as hoppy, piney, malty, and sweet, with a pleasant bitterness. The body is medium, and it is well carbonated.

Celebration Ale is the perfect beer for the holiday season, whether for a festive gathering or a quiet evening at home. It pairs well with foods such as a smash burger and Tornado of Souls by Megadeth, according to one reviewer.

Sierra Nevada's Atomic Torpedo

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has a range of India Pale Ale (IPA) beers, one of which is the Atomic Torpedo. This beer is an Imperial IPA, also known as a Double IPA (DIPA), which fuses the characteristics of both West Coast and East Coast IPAs.

The Atomic Torpedo is a strong beer, with an ABV of 9.2%, up from its original release at 8.2% ABV. It has a bold, hoppy flavour, with notes of lush fruit, citrus, and sticky pine. The beer pours a golden colour, with a white head, and has a medium-full mouthfeel.

The unique flavour of the Atomic Torpedo is achieved through a process called dry-hopping, using a custom invention called the Hop Torpedo, which is shaped like its namesake. Each Hop Torpedo is filled with around 75 pounds of whole-cone hops, which the beer is then pumped through, resulting in a supercharged IPA.

The Atomic Torpedo has received generally positive reviews, with ratings ranging from 3.75 to 4.61 out of 5 stars. Some reviewers praise the distinct flavours, smooth mouthfeel, and competitive price point. However, others feel that the fruity notes overpower the classic bitter and piney flavours of a traditional IPA.

Sierra Nevada's Big Little Thing

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has done it again with its Big Little Thing beer, an Imperial IPA that challenges conventional brewing logic. With a monster 9% ABV, this IPA boasts a booming hop character and restrained sweetness, resulting in a clean, tropical finish.

The secret to Big Little Thing's unique flavour profile lies in the brewing process. Sierra Nevada uses an aggressive mashing technique, yielding a higher ratio of fermentable vs. unfermentable sugars. This allows the yeast to metabolize almost all the sugar, boosting the ABV and reducing the malt sweetness. Additionally, dry hopping during active fermentation creates biotransformation, with yeast cells altering the chemical compounds in the hops to release tropical aromas.

The result is a beer that defies expectations. Big Little Thing has a full malt body and restrained sweetness, balanced by tropical hop flavours of mango, grapefruit, and tangerine. It pours a clear, golden yellow with a tall, tight, white frothy head that dissipates slowly. The aroma is enticing, with notes of tangerine, mango, and grapefruit, followed by hints of malt and bread. On the palate, it's moderately sweet, with predominant flavours of tangerine and grapefruit and subtle notes of apricot and malt. The finish is a delightful combination of bitterness, sweetness, and refreshment.

Big Little Thing has received rave reviews from beer enthusiasts, with some calling it "physically and metaphorically purrfectly balanced" and "an A+...the STRONGEST IPA squeezed into a 19.2 oz. can." It's the perfect summer beer, ideal for outdoor events, backyard barbecues, or simply relaxing at home. So, make way for the Big Little Thing and get ready to be delighted by this exceptional Imperial IPA from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

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