Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale

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

Brown bottle, 12 ounces, 2007, gift from Ian Guénard, savoured on August 19 2008; eye: copper with a golden hue, clear, light effervescence, tan head made up of rather large bubbles and that turns into a sheet over the beer, good lacing; nose: resinous hops, grapefruit, caramel, pine; mouth: resinous hops, grapefruit, resinous hops returns, tiny layer of caramel, pine, finale in resinous hops with a presence of diluted caramel, slightly sweet, rather bitter, medium body, slightly harsh texture, not much carbonation; overall: quite likable FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 12 onces, 2007, cadeau de Ian Guénard, savourée le 19 août 2008; œil : cuivrée avec une teinte dorée, claire, légère effervescence, mousse fauve formée de bulles plutôt grosses et qui se transforme en une couverture, bonne dentelle; nez : houblon résineux, pamplemousse, caramel, pin; bouche : houblon résineux, pamplemousse, houblon résineux de retour, petit filet de caramel, pin, finale en houblon résineux avec une présence de caramel dilué, très légèrement sucrée, plutôt amère, corps moyen, corsée, texture légèrement rugueuse, peu carbonatée; en résumé : bien aimé

This one tasted as if the hops had been lightly toasted: very bitter for a fresh hop beer. However, it did have a good balance of malt to balance out the bitterness. Overall, this brew was very smooth on the palate. Nice lacing on the glass as it went down.

Excellent nose -- full of strong caramely notes. Three fingers of picture-perfect fluffy head. A nice hoppy bite at the beginning, but not overwhelmingly so, and a clean, only-vaguely-sweet finish.

clear amber pour with a nice frothy head - very nice fruity aroma of citrus hops and malt - excellently blended flavors of peppery hops, citrusy hops and a very nice malt backbone. I don’t think that you could get a more perfect blend of flavors than this!

Crystal clear amber with a wispy light tan head that laces as it fades. Aroma of citrus, sweet malts and light caramel. Flavors of citrus, caramel and pine that finishes mildly bitter.

(bottle) Pours amber with a long lasting thick white head. Aroma of garlic, some grapefruit peel, sauerkraut, celery, and stale popcorn. This aroma is pretty complex, but god awful. Taste is lightly sweet initially, but this odd stale flavor begins to dominate over the sweetness and even drowns out the bittter hops in the finish. The finish is also incredibly bone dry. There’s really nothing else I can detect in the flavor of this beer. This may be a quality beer, but something has gone awry with this bottle.

2008 Bottle - Pours dk orange with a small white head, aroma is citrus hops and smooth malt, flavour follows, hop bomb on the front end, but mellows and shows some subtle spice on the back if you are paying attention...it’s not just bitter hops alone, but is a mid grade IPA lacking something...

2008 Bottle. Straightforward, hoppy beer. Orange amber color. Small head. Nothing offensive, not going to stand out in a crowd. But I’ll buy it again. At $11 for a 12 pack it’s unbeaten for a session. Much better than their pale ale which is well loved for reasons unknown to me.