Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale

Brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Chico, California USA

Pours a beautiful light golden orange. Perfect finger’s head. Smells of hops and pine. Taste is strong on hops and pine in the forefront, but finishes with a fantastic oak. The more I drink the more that oak flavor keeps peering through. Carbonation and body are perfect, sticks to your tongue, but washes clean.

2008 version, from Rhythm & Booze in Brigg. Faintly hazy red gold, good lasting fluffy white head and good condition. Full citrusy sweet cascade hop in the nose with some orangey maltiness, quite bitter and dry in the mouth with some underlying chalky citrus notes and lingering floral cascade hoppiness, lingering chalky bitter finish but tempered by some background sweet citrus maltiness.

Pours hazy golden brown with a nice off white head. Aroma is citrusy hop. Taste is nice grapefruit like hops with a big bitter finish. Pretty good.

draft at fiddlers hearth. a little sweet for my liking, but not a bad beer. thanks to pampdad for the pointer

She poured clear amber with dark orange hues where the light bounces off my glass. A huge tannish orange head resembling the soft inner flesh of an orange tops her off. Fading lazily, she leaves pockmarks of lace and bubbles while scattered clouds float on top. Bursting free from her bubbly confines, a massive bouquet of orange, nectarines, and lemons mingle with fresh cut grass, faint pine, and spice. A beautiful harmony beckoning me to join in, and so I do. Frothy and sticky, she immediately coats my mouth and tongue with fresh grass, lemon, orange, and nectarine juice. For all its sticky glory, she has a pleasantly clean and medium-bodied mouthfeel. As she warms, fresh summer melons join the party as we mingle on into the night. Keeping the Anniversary Ale from turning into too much of a sticky mess, a clean dry finish emphasizes the grass and lemon esters. Each quaff leaves a patchwork of lace to memorialize our time together and as I gaze into my empty glass, I forget the Anniversary Ales of yore and consider myself lucky to be able to enjoy the present 2008 release.

Sierra Nevada is one the original craft breweries which has helped build, support, and elevate our current craft brewing scene to where it is today. Sierra Nevada will continue to bring our brewing evolution into a new and reliable future which I look forward to, lips wet with anticipation. The 2008 Anniversary Ale may not have been the first release, but it was my first experience and so I shall mark this moment for future posterity.

Deep amber coloured body with a copper hue and a thinnish tan head. Aroma of fresh hops, a lot of alcohol, pine cones and a decent malt backbone. Medium-bodied; Strong assertive hops up front with a piney and citrus flavour afterwards, a touch of sugars and a bit of alcohol. Aftertaste is bittered from the hops, but leaving a residue of caramel behind - nice! Overall, a pretty good beer, definitely worth trying if you can find it! I sampled this bottle purchased from RFD in Washington, D.C. on 30-August-2007.

Sampled last year. A pretty good brew. A good amount of hops. Seems like a cross between the pale ale and the torpedo ale. A good amount of hops with sweet malts. Well worth a try.