Sierra Nevada Estate Brewers Harvest Ale

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

Cloudy golden with a medium off white head. Sweet fruity aroma with hoppy and malty notes. Hoppy flavour with pine, grapfruits and hints of malt. Finished bitter.

Bottle:   Deep amber, slightly hazy, huge rocky off-white head, sticky lacing.   Stale hop aroma.   Smells very musty and basement like... well hops are there but like old hops or something.   Slightly earthy and dirty.   Soft earthy hop flavor on first sip.   Yeah, this one, unlike their others, seems to be more earthy/soily.   Decent malt base, compliments the bitter bits.   Moderate to full body and mouthfeel.   Lingering soiliness.   Decent IPA, but not floral but very earthy and soily.   I prefer the other Harvest Ales compared to this one.

Bottle. Average creamy beige head that mostly lasted. Fair display of lacework. Golden amber color. Aroma of mild citrus and grape, peach, caramel and toasted malt. Quite nice. Medium bodied with an average carbonation and dry texture. Moderated sweet and bitter flavor. Dry peach like bitter finish.

Bottle 24oz. Pours an almost clear amber with an off-white head. Sweet and peachy hop aroma. Medium body, dry fruitiness with a slight sweetness. Dry, peachy hoppy finish. Yummy. 030110

On tap at Mekong on 09/27/2009. Fairly clear copper body with a medium frothy off-white head. Big citrus and floral hop aroma on a sweet caramel and pale malt background. Sweet floral and citrus hop flavor with a pale malt background. Medium full body with moderate carbonation.

2009 Big ol’ bottle. Pours a clear amber-brown with little head that quickly diminishes to a film. Aroma is grainy with sweet malt and spicy hops. Pineapple and citrus are more dominant in the initial flavor, which ends in an earthy, lingering bitterness. Slight alcohol burn. Everything is nicely balanced by the caramel malt backbone. Medium carbonation and a substantial mouthfeel. Yum.

2009 brew. pours a semi-hazy amber-orange with a large yellowish head, and excellent lacing. smell of citrus, earth, a touch of caramel, and hops. taste is smooth, caramel, hops, citrus, and some malt, ends a little dry, somewhat tangy, and a little bitter.

Draught at The Red. Nearly clear copper with a big pillowy off-white head that leaves generous lacing. A foamy keg at The Red is always a good sign. The aroma is floral and heavy on the spicy, pungent hops with green hop-matter evident as well. Pleasant, but pretty standard hop character, though more pungent than fruity. The flavor is heavy on hops, with an oily, spicy character overall, leaning on some orange and mango as well, but to a lesser extent. There is a nice balancing bready and sweet caramel malt body, but the hops still dominate the flavor. The finish is more bittern than sweet, but not harshly bitter or astringent. Medium bodied with smooth, medium carbonation. Doesn’t deviate much from the rest of SN’s IPAs, but has a great oily hop flavor that makes it stand out. On the maltier side, but plenty hoppy. I was hesitant about purchasing bottles of this due to their higher price, but this was definitely worth it on tap.