Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico,CA

-SNPA is the brewery's best known product, and also among its best. Generally considered to be the prototypical American Pale Ale. Typical of the brewery in general, this beer has a heavily hopped character (Perle for bittering, Cascade for finishing), with an almost explosively hoppy nose. Copper in color, this is a very fine pale ale. 4.4% alcohol by weight.

-A deeply flavorful porter, this beer has a coffeeish overtone, a result of the chocolate and black patent malts, which is not a detraction but adds to the overall complexity. Hops are not as detectable in this beer as in other SN products, but they're definitely there. Nugget and Willamette are employed as bittering and finishing respectively. 4.7% alcohol.

Bigfoot Ale Barleywine

-My first reaction to this beer was 'hop extract'. Generally available beginning in late winter and still around throught the spring, this beer is an experience every beer drinker should have. While not as good all around as Old Foghorn this beer does have an unimaginably hoppy character and nose which make it well worth your time. The particular hops employed are Nugget (bittering), Cascade (Finishing), and Centenial and Cascade (Dry Hopping). Barleywines are typically quite high in alcohol, and this one is no exception at 10.1% by volume.

-Brewed annualy and available in the late fall, it is amber to slightly reddish in color, and is classified as an India Pale Ale. Unlike most in that category, it has sufficient malt sweetness and body to balance the extreme hoppiness. 5.1% alcohol by weight.
kentt@informix.com (Kent Tracy) says that It is in the same vein as the Pale Ale, though significantly higher gravity and much hoppier.

-I sampled this beer at the brewery and found it to be incredibly malty, so much so that it was almost opaque. Somewhat amazingly, though, it retained a good hoppy character as do all the products of the brewery.

-Another beer I sampled at the brewery, this hoppy goldish amber beer was quite fine. I fully expected it to taste of the signature Cascade hops seen in most of the brewery products. However, the brewers seem to have stuck to the classic English Kent Goldings hops, at least as far as my palate could detect.

-This beer becomes available in late May, and is bright golden in color with a fluffy white head. Crisp nose with a little spiciness showing through from the hops. Light and dry on the palatte with a low bitterness, but a lingering hop "feel." Reminds me in many ways of the fine Mexican lager Bohemia. Summerfest is a lager, 3.5% alcohol by weight, and contains Perle and Hallertauer hops.

-Clear and golden with hints of red. Nose is dominated by wheat and grain aromas. Earthy and herbal start to the taste which quickly dries out into a lingering bitterness. As the beer warms, hints of banana creep in. Labeled on the neck as a Maibock, this concoction is different from any Maibock I've ever had in that it's pretty bitter, and not quite as richly alcoholic as other examples. American Maibock, perhaps?
This beer employs Perle and Mount Hood hops, and is 5.2% alcohol by weight. Lager yeast is appropriately employed.
matthew davis(mattd@clark.net) says: I had it once and loved it. Much more subtle and smooth than their other offerings, though I am a big fan of the SN family of beers. It had an exceptionally clean finish and the overall feel of a brew best drunk on a warm spring day in the middle of a sunny open field. In other words, a wonderfully mellow brew, or so I recall.