Nick Carr on June 13, 2016 0 Comments Beer Camp Is Back! For the 2016 variety pack, Sierra Nevada went a slightly different route then the last time they released it in 2014. This year it’s 6 different beers, two bottles of each, and the collaborations widened to include a whopping 31 breweries. This case will set you back anywhere from 25 to 30 dollars so it’s not a cheap treat, but getting the opportunity to see what oddities and grandness all these great breweries came up with when they put their experience and excitement together is worth it. To learn more about Beer Camp, please visit this link over at Sierra Nevada. Unlike our normal weekly beer reviews, where I taste and discuss one specific beer, this round I wanted to encompass the entire Beer Camp variety pack into one tasting review. Below you will see my tasting notes for all six beers in the variety pack. This will give you a better idea of what you can expect before the case even goes into your cart. Let’s see what’s in the box. SWEET SUNNY SOUTH TABLE BEER Below are the tasting notes I took while drinking Sweet Sunny South. If you tasted this beer, please share your thoughts with me in the comments below. Pour and Aroma: Pours a pale peach color with a fingers worth of white frothy, big-bubbled foam. The head breaks within a minute, but the middle continues to bubble, fed by high carbonation. Clarity is good with very slight cloudiness. Aroma is all about the store of fruit interred within. I get big tropical fruit; guava, papaya along with tart peach. Some low floral whispers of honeysuckle. All of this washed by a low undertone of cereal. Mouthfeel and Taste: Body is medium-light. Carbonation spins a prickling dance across the palate; lively and tart. It’s all fruit sweetness at the front. Guava, a bit of prickly pear, light mango-like notes. Mid-palate brings the tart peach and more mango tones, balanced against a light bitterness, along with whispers of tea. Cereal grains and corn grits on the back of the palate along with a little hat tip to Belgian funk. The fruits continue to shine. Finish is medium dry with the aftertaste giving over to a corn bready element and some lasting tartness. FINISHING THOUGHTS This is an interesting one. It does an excellent job of “being southern influenced” with the corn grits which automatically raises memories of thick squares of corn bread. The fruitiness is also pleasant, complex, while not being too outspoken. It would be a fantastic addition to any summer table spread. Quick Characteristics Style Table Saison Collaborators Funky Buddha Brewery, Wicked Weed Brewery, Austin Beerworks, Bayou Teche Brewing, Creature Comforts Brewing, and Sierra Nevada Brewing Suggested Glass Tulip IBU 23 ABV 4.9% Hops Magnum, Hallertau Blanc, Huell Melon Malts Pilsner, Acidulated, Wheat Other Ingredients Corn Grits, Black Tea, Honeysuckle, Peach, Papaya, Guava, Prickly Pear Shelf Life 4 to 6 months Serving Temp 48-50°F Food Pairings Roast Turkey, Parmesan Cheese, Fruit Salad FAMILY VALUES IMPERIAL BROWN ALE WITH COCOA Below are the tasting notes I took while drinking Family Values. If you tasted this beer, please share your thoughts with me in the comments below. Pour and Aroma: Pours a deep and very dark brown, like low grade maple syrup; rimmed with ruby highlights in good light. A small fizzy head of tan foam bubbles up and quickly breaks down. Nose brings deep caramel and robust nuttiness. Dark fruit, sweet honeyed undertones, rich chocolate. Some alcoholic spiciness. Mouthfeel and Taste: Body is medium-full with some thickness. Carbonation is a low-medium. Mouthfeel is silky and slightly coating, warming. Big dark malt, roast, caramel, light char, and baking chocolate. Some light dry plum and other dark fruitiness. Some nuanced honey sweetness along with hints of milk sweetness. The wild rice gives a great nutty earthy character. Alcohol comes through spicy boarding on vinous. Chocolate on the back end along with small bittering. Honey pops again at the finish with the aftertaste bringing low dark malt and caramel sweetness. FINISHING THOUGHTS This is the first imperial brown I’ve had… and it’s a good one. The oats bring nice smoothness, while the wild rice contributes to the robust nuttiness and the honey gives that earthy sweet touch that only honey can create. A very nice beer and probably my favorite of the bunch. Quick Characteristics Style Imperial American Brown Ale Collaborators August Schell Brewing, Dark Horse Brewing, Sun King Brewing, Perennial Artisan Ales, Half Acre Beer, and Sierra Nevada Brewing Suggested Glass Snifter IBU 35 ABV 8.5% Hops Magnum, Michigan-grown Cascade Malts Two-row Pale, Sierra Nevada Estate malt, Munich, Chocolate Other Ingredients Minnesota Wild Rice, Missouri Oats, Illinois Cocoa Nibs, Indiana Honey Shelf Life 9 to 12 months Serving Temp 46-50°F Food Pairings Barbecued Pork, Aged Gouda, Chocolate Almond Cake MOXEE MORON IMPERIAL SESSION IPA Below are the tasting notes I took while drinking Moxee Moron. If you tasted this beer, please share your thoughts with me in the comments below. Pour and Aroma: Nice bright gold in the glass. Head piles to two fingers of billowy white foam; drops pretty slow for an IPA, settling and riding out the glass at about half a finger. Brilliantly clear with good streaming carbonation. Citrus, mango, pineapple, hints of peach, along with low notes of pine crowd the nose. Some low vinous qualities as it warms. Little sign of any malt backbone. Mouthfeel and Taste: Mouthfeel is smooth and warming, studded by low prickling from the medium carbonation, creating light drying. Body is a good medium. Taste is all about the hops. Sheets of tropical fruit -mango, citrus, pineapple, little bit of resin- spread across a bed of light doughy, slightly biscuity, malt. Some melon-like sweetness. Has a good punch of bitterness toward the back, nothing bracing or too over the top, but there’s no doubt this is an IPA. Alcohol becomes quite perceptible as it warms. It finishes with some astringency leading into a bitter somewhat grassy aftertaste. FINISHING THOUGHTS Big on fruity expression, as most American IPA’s are, this one holds its own in the arena. Complex and inviting — at least for the hophead — Moxee Moron, a play on “Oxymoron,” and a reference to the brewers’ advertised style of a “Session Imperial IPA,” gives nice pull in both hop flavor/aroma and bittering. Quick Characteristics Style Double IPA Collaborators Bale Breaker Brewing, Barley Brown’s Brewing, Melvin Brewing, Black Raven Brewing, Odell Brewing, and Sierra Nevada Brewing Suggested Glass IPA Glass or Tulip IBU 70 ABV 7.5% Hops Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic, Experimental Malts Two-row Pale, Pilsner, Munich, Wheat Shelf Life 4 to 6 months Serving Temp 46-50°F Food Pairings Grilled Salmon, Blue Triple Cream, Cheesecake w/ Orange Glaze STOUT OF THE UNION ROBUST STOUT Below are the tasting notes I took while drinking Stout of the Union. If you tasted this beer, please share your thoughts with me in the comments below. Pour and Aroma: This one drops the curtains as it hits the glass. Black as you can get. A good two finger mocha head forms, small bubbled and thick. It sticks well, both retention wise and the lacing it throws up above those dark curtains. Big roast in the aroma; molasses, some burnt undertones, threaded through with coffee and bitter chocolate. Spicy tones of alcohol mixing with a subtle hop earthiness. Mouthfeel and Taste: Body is lush and thick lending to the smooth and somewhat mouthcoating feel. Carbonation is a happy medium-low. Taste harkens strongly back to the aroma. Mild sweetness at the front before the big roast cuts across the palate with molasses and some char. Light smokiness. Nice tones of chicory and cocoa powder keep pace with the roast. A thin thread of dark dry fruit whispers. Bitterness hits toward the back; a combination one-two punch of hops and the roast. It drops away quite dry leaving the aftertaste of bitter coffee, roasted grain, with just a tingeing sweetness. FINISHING THOUGHTS This is a very nice American stout. Nothing too fancy or overstated, but a solid well crafted bit of liquid darkness. It is nicely balanced, while playing to the bitter side of things. This may be the least “experimental” of this year’s beer camp, but it was my second favorite. Quick Characteristics Style American Stout Collaborators Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, Port Brewing/Lost Abbey, Bagby Beer, Societe Brewing, Smog City Brewing, and Sierra Nevada Brewing Suggested Glass Snifter IBU 64 ABV 7.3% Hops Magnum, Equinox Malts Maris Otter, Munich, Oats, Crystal, Chocolate, Roasted Barley Shelf Life 9 to 12 months Serving Temp 50-55°F Food Pairings Filet Mignon w/ Stock Reduction, Sharp Cheddar, Double Chocolate Cake WEST LATITUDE SESSION RYE WITH HIBISCUS Below are the tasting notes I took while drinking West Latitude. If you tasted this beer, please share your thoughts with me in the comments below. Pour and Aroma: This rye pours a dark mahogany with ruby highlights. A small, but persistent head of small-bubbled light tan foam builds, well fed by a stream of carbonation. Spicy and floral on the nose; picking out light tropical florals from the hibiscus, some citrus. Some nuttiness and dank earth. Mouthfeel and Taste: Carbonation is prickly adding to the peppery sensation of the rye and creating a slightly dry-bittering mouthfeel. Body is medium. Taste is dominated by the nutty spiciness of rye. Some floral notes whisper by along the way; the added hibiscus playing tag with the floral and citrus from the hops. There’s a light floral sweetness with a touch of caramel to boot. Some burnt undertones remaining behind the scenes. There’s dank bitterness mid and back of the palate. Some light warming elements after the swallow. A drying finish. That hop dankness follows into the finish combining with some light roast. FINISHING THOUGHTS I enjoyed this rye. Well, I’ll be honest I’m a sucker for rye beers and have yet to find one I can’t enjoy on its own terms. This one really punches home the spiciness. Combined with the hop bitterness, it off balances slightly. The hibiscus adds some nice floral sweetness of a tropical quality. All in all, a good sessionable rye IPA. Quick Characteristics Style Rye IPA Collaborators Bear Republic Brewing, Maui Brewing, Faction Brewing, Magnolia Brewing, Mad River Brewing, and Sierra Nevada Brewing Suggested Glass Tulip or IPA Glass IBU 55 ABV 5.5% Hops Centennial, Comet, Mosaic, Citra Malts Maris Otter, Golden Promise, Rye, Vienna, Midnight Wheat Other Ingredients Hibiscus Shelf Life 4 to 6 months Serving Temp 46-50°F Food Pairings Grilled Ham and Cheese on Rye, Cotswold Cheese, Bread Pudding PAT-RYE-OT PALE ALE Below are the tasting notes I took while drinking Pat-Rye-Ot. If you tasted this beer, please share your thoughts with me in the comments below. Pour and Aroma: The Pat-Rye-Ot falls into the glass a deep straw gold color topped by a finger of off-white head; mostly compact with a bit of soapiness playing at the top. Carbonation is at the high end of medium with good bubble streams coming off the bottom. Clarity is slightly marred by some chill haze. Get citrus notes of grapefruit and very light orange peel. Light florals and pine. Some rye spiciness, along with low yeast as it warms. Crisp appley signatures are there too and continue to become more prominent as it warms up. Mouthfeel and Taste: Body is low-medium. Mouthfeel is smooth with light prickling from the medium carbonation, which also lends to the drying feel. Some citrus at the front — grapefruit, light orange — some floral elements too, along with dank and light grassiness. Rye spiciness tickles at the front. Light yeastiness. Mid-palate kicks up light cracker and dough before the bitterness makes its play in the back. There are low whispers of crisp dry apple, lending to the perception of overall dryness. Aftertaste is a rather muted dry earthiness of rye spice, hop grassiness, and apple skins. FINISHING THOUGHTS This was my least favorite of the Beer Camp variety pack. But, one of them has to be the least favorite right? Not a bad mark against the beer more a personal taste thing. It’s a decent beer. Nice florals and citrusy hops… the aroma is great with the little tinge of apple. The apple taste isn’t over the top or too sweet or anything like that… just somehow the apple cider along with other ingredients didn’t quite make it for me. It’s still worth a try and no doubt many out there like it. Maybe you will. Quick Characteristics Style American Pale Ale Collaborators Dogfish Head Brewery, Devils Backbone Brewing, Lawson’s Finest Liquids, Stoudts Brewing, Trillium Brewing, and Sierra Nevada Brewing Suggested Glass Tulip or Shaker Pint IBU 55 ABV 5.6% Hops Cluster, Experimental Malts Two-row Pale, Rye, Crystal Other Ingredients Apple cider from Delaware and Vermont Shelf Life 4 to 6 months Serving Temp 46-48°F Food Pairings Fajitas, Aged White Cheddar, Apple Pie
