My nearest Glengarry has jumped on the craft beer bandwagon and is importing butt loads of American beer. The youthful Glengarry workers were keen to talk beer and recommended some excellent beers, but mostly I had my heart set on America.
Finally I'm able to taste a Sierra Nevada beer. This staple of quality American beer is always popping up on my untappd feed (Beer bragging site) even Whil Wheaton drinks it.
Pour is a golden orange with a medium off-white head, carbonation is adequate but leaves me wondering just how well this 12FL.OZ bottle travelled to New Zealand, was it a long arduous boat ride or high altitude air freight, or simply set adrift on the ocean with a message to call me as soon as it reached out shores?
Aroma is hoppy, nothing too piney though, its mostly fruit and flowers. Slightly green nectarine, tangy pineapple and sticky sap notes.
You can smell and taste the dry hopping in this little bottle. In the mouth it's delightfully bitter, with an oiliness that not only coats your tongue but the whole inside of you mouth leaving you tasting it for some time after. A nice lingering moreish bitterness which is satisfying on its own making the enjoyment of the brew last even longer. The hoppy bitter notes remind me of grapefruit and bitter orange, aka the usual suspects. Plus the pine finally comes through.
Malts are in there, sweet and caramel blending in nicely with the fruitier hop aromatics to round out the bitterness.
The alcohol on this is 7.2% adding a little heat and spiciness to the flavour but is well blended with the other flavours and I could have mistaken the beer for being lower in alcohol.
Overall an enjoyable IPA that was easily lingered over in the hour before dinner.
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