Sierra Nevada Estate Brewers Harvest Ale

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

Draught@SBWF "Chico Estate Harvest"
Cleat amber color, small white head. Rubber and fresh "crushed" hops in the nose. Similar flavor: lots of "hop juice", rubber, dried apricot. Also quite farmhouse-like.

Draught@SBWF2009. Reddish amber colour, not much head. Aroma is fruits, wood, mild notes of earth.Flavour is fruits, grass, wood and some mild grassy notes. Also some bready malts show in the background.

Nice orange color with a good head that laces the glass, looks a lot like the chico estate from last year or the regular harvest beer they put out annually. The smell is off-putting at first, burned plastic that then becomes kind of malty. The taste is also quite underwhelming with just a bit of grassy hoppiness. This is not a bad beer its just sort of boring to me for some reason although I felt the same way about the Chico estate and the Southern Hemisphere. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 10-04-2009 04:21:53
Earlier Rating: 2/13/2009 Total Score: 3.6
24oz bottle, very nice orange color, smells piney and hoppy but still not too pronounced. The taste seems to lean more towards pine than wet, green hops. Interesting beer and very easy to drink but not as good as the regular harvest ale. Nice to be able to try this since it was not distributed to Colorado. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 10-12-2008 21:58:57

GABF 2009, day 3: This beer really surprised me. It wasn’t super hoppy or malty, it was just really well made, very flavorful (without smacking you in the face with flavor) and perfectly balanced. It tasted really fresh, too. Malts had nice aromas of fresh-cut grains and freshly baked bread. Hop spices and bitterness complemented the malts amazingly well. Easy on the palate, and I found it so curiously interesting that I went for another sample.
Earlier Rating: 1/5/2005 Total Score: 3.8
Draft at brewery: Clear and bright copper with lasting lace. Very smooth-bodied and softly carbonated. Notes of nuts, wood, musty earth, yeast, green hops and unripened fruit. Mild bitterness rounded things out. Pretty good stuff. Had a real earthy, "granola" side to it.

While watching the villanova wm game with my freshmen roommate. Pours a clear orange amber with massive seafoam khaki head. Nose of grassy, skunky, weed hops, with a hint of fusel alcohol burn,. Flavor is resiny, piney, citrus with some caramel malt syrupiness. A little thin on the body. Very good IPA, but Way too fucking expensive though.

Pour is a nice amber color. Aroma is a little funky, earth, and grass. Slight mustiness to it that gives it a bit of a wild outdoorsy sort of vibe. Flavor is smooth caramel malt with a grassy herbal essence. Finish is slightly bitter but the hops are subtle here. Appreciate the local grown ingredients. I feel like I counteracted that by buying a bottle shipped across the country but whatever. Easily drinkable but not worth the $10.

24oz bomber. Pours a caramel brownish orange color with a big 2 finger head that laces nicely. Nose is pretty subdued, but I am getting bready caramel notes with some hints of orange in there and some fresh grassy notes. Also pick up some fireweed honey essence. Very earthy and dry on the palate with nice smooth bittering finish, but not over powering or abrasive. I am not sure what the hop varietal is that they are using here, but it isn’t as juicy and resinous as I prefer. Still, I think this beer is really cool in that hops and barley were grown on premise. Well made beer for sure.

Burnt amber in color with subtle aromas of flowers and pine. Medium bodied/carbonation, moderate bitterness, toasted malts, with a resinous/spicy hop mouthfeel and a dry finish. Very drinkable but too pricey to get more than one. I hope that Sierra can bring these prices down in the future for the estate beers.