Sierra Nevada Estate Brewers Harvest Ale

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

Nose is full of fresh earthy hops, sweet tropical fruit, caramel, toast, earth. Pours copper with a great foamý head and sticky icky lace. Lots of tropical fruit and caramel. Good balance and imminently drinkable. Nice sharp hop bitterness lingers in the finish.
Earlier Rating: 10/2/2008 Total Score: 3.6
Tap at Hopfest 08. Pours a amber color with a nice head and great sticky lacing. The aroma is super earthy, dirt, wood, fresh leaves, and a light citrus tone. Malt comes across as somewhat toasty and sweet. Up front fresh earthy bitterness is pretty high. Toasted caramel malt provides backing. Pretty bitter and resiny with lingering dryness. Pretty nice fresh IPA.
Earlier Rating: 1/7/2008 Total Score: 3.3
Copper color with a good lasting head. Aroma is fresh and funky. Flavor is funky with some fruity hops and toasted caramel malt. A weird dirt like mildew flavor appears that detracts from the aroma and initial flavor. Essentially a mix of dirty mildew and leafy, fruity hops. Interesting. Drinkable. If it didnt have the odd ass flavor going on, it would be alot better.

Donning my copper-hued glasses I embark. I hardly make it out my door before I find myself enmeshed in a light frothy white tangle of bubbles. The bubbles cling tenaciously blinding me to the precipice ahead. Tumbling down a hill of spring flowers I wonder why I am so lucky. With a soft crash I come to rest and find myself nestled in a mat of evergreen needles. (How exactly does a short roll from the homestead end deep in a dense stand of firs?) Brushing the needles from myself I decide to partake a quick nosh of my mixed tropical fruit trail mix. Equilibrium restored I continue my journey. I pass through fields of barley but can not shake the aromas of the mashed flowers and pine needles still clinging to my clothes; the trail mix belches only add to the experience. Before long I find myself arriving back home to my estate feeling rested and quite contented. My trip was fun, if a bit pricey (I ended up having to toss my shirt). Would I do it again? Without a doubt.

These big ass 24oz bottles are fun. Undated, 1st release. Clear copper with a big creamy two-finger light beige head, good retention. Floral grassy hops dominate the aroma with a little spiciness behind, and a toasty malt backbone. I feel like I’m getting a tinge of sulfur that makes it sorta pilsenery--weird. Flavor is much the same with a bit of a nondescript fruitiness (from the yeast?) and some caramel sweetness. Finish is semi-dry with bitterness at a 3-4. Light creamy carbonation with a medium body.Not an assertive IPA, but a good beer nonetheless--the $9 price tag is a bit much to swallow more than a time or two, however. Wonderful--and labor-intensive--idea though!

Bottle. A rich reddish color with an off-white head. Cereal and malty aromas with a rich earthy floral hop finish. A strong earthy malt flavor with a stiff hop profile and a long dry bitter finish. This is an assertive and intense IPA.

Bottle. Pours clear copper with a nice lasting beige head and a surprising amount of lace. Earth, tea, pine, and slight citrus show up in the taste more than the aroma. Medium bodied with an earthy pine/grapefruit finish.

2009 Bottle. Bright copper pour with a big, lasting, rocky, white head. Grassy, floral aroma with hints of citrus and very little malt presence. The flavor is quite mild for a Sierra Nevada brew. More floral and grassy hops with some wheat, and a little clover sweetness. The malt is earthy but very subtle and only comes through right at the finish. There is a lasting but gentle bitterness left in my mouth. The mouthfeel is creamy but a little on the thin side and it has very soft carbonation. Not very impressed with this. It’s a nice solid, balanced IPA but there just isn’t much going on.

Bottle from Carrboro Beverage Company. Always look forward to these releases from SN. This one, while not as enjoyable to me as some of the others, is still a solid brew. Grass and citrus dominate the aroma, wafting from a pale copper body with crisp, minimal carbonation (not much lace at all). Sweet and dry flavors to the fore, but a serious malt base shows itself fairly quickly. Light mouthfeel, the hops are understated, but it’s still an enjoyable drink.
Earlier Rating: 10/12/2008 Total Score: 3.7
Bottle from Rodman’s, D.C. Big glowing amber pour, much like some of the other enjoyable beers in this series. I’m not sure what else might be growing around SN’s estate, but there is a distinctly dank, tea-like aroma to this one. It’s quite pleasant actually, blending well with some of the other, more rich and fruity wet hop qualities. Frothy head, substantial body, and just a bit of a bitter back end to the taste. Sticky, resiny, bitter, but refreshing.

Grassy hoppy IPA. Has the malt base of Harvest, Celebration, and any of their other IPAs. The hops however, really go for the grassy nature. Pours a cloudy copper with tan head.
Earlier Rating: 10/3/2008 Total Score: 3.9
What can I say? I’m a sucker for a floral fresh hop IPA. Aroma is all grassy, piney hops - kind of like Cali’s answer to Two Hearted. Flavor is bitter and dry, just like I like it. The hop notes are chewy and resinous.