Time for a good old macro brew
Written: Dec 02 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very available, easy to drink, pleasant taste
Cons: If you think it smells bad stick to the Bud
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| andaryl's Full Review: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 6 Pack |
Last night was essentially a Bud night. As you'll see from my reviews, I got home a little drunk, and knocked a review out on Budweiser. However, about 1.30 am, a couple of guys sent their bottles of Sierra back untouched, complaining that they smelt bad. Well, always one to give a home to a stray dog, I told the bartender (that's Toni), that I'd drink them. She didn't charge me, and I tipped her generously. I sniffed the beers, and they were fine, so I made a point of embarrassing them and ensuring they knew that. My friend, a captain and coke drinker, even let them know that I was a beer expert. This did give me a little go boost, but then I thought, I'm only 28, is that a good thing?
Now I didn't know much about Sierra. I'd drunk it a few times on draft but I'd never seen a bottle label description. I did notice some reference to yeast in the bottle, which may explain why someone may have had a bad Sierra in the past. But these tasted just fine. I must say that my first few tastings of Sierra, had been pretty unimpressive. When I first moved here it was kind of awkward for me to drink an ale that was carbonated. Most of our ales are draft only in England, and are somewhat smoother and creamier. However I have recently gathered a better appreciation for American ales.
I also do have some appreciation of history, being English, so when I read brewed since 1981 on their website....as long as that huh? I'm sorry, I'm a cynic, prohibition etc.....
The next thing I noticed on the label was the word 'krausening". Yeah, I'd just read about this so here was another chance to impress my friends. I think I did about as well as I would have done at explaining the lbw rule to someone who'd never seen cricket, after all I was a little drunk by now. But now I'm sober (with headache), I can tell you that this is the process of adding a small portion of fermented brew before bottling, causing a secondary fermentation and giving the beer a natural effervesence. Impressed? Bud also uses this. Not so impressed?
After a couple of swigs from the bottle, I suddenly remembered, that I should be reviewing this one, and asked for a glass. I only got a bucket (maybe 8 oz) but for the purpose of releasing the flavors and getting a good whiff this worked just fine.
I was unable to produce much head due to the size of the glass but it did foam quite well. Since I was constantly refilling, I'm not sure if the head would have lasted. The color of the beer would probably be best described as amber, although maybe a little deeper. But who cares what it looks like?
The smell, the taste were very impressive. My early memories of this beer had been the bitter aftertaste, but this time I was getting a little more. Malty, and fruity on the nose, both of which appear in the flavor. You also get something of the yeast in the flavor too. The body was fairly light and a crisp, which made for fairly easy drinking.
So like I said, my early tastings were pretty unimpressive, I rememberd only the bitterness. Why? I'm not sure. Could it be that a chilled glass and overchilled beer would diminish the fruity, yeasty taste? The next thing I knew it was 1.55, and Toni, had now turned bad cop. So after making me slam the last one, I'll be back to blame her for todays hangover.
So what about my title? Time for good old macro brew. I stole that from an MGD glass I regularly drink from. But although many may consider this a micro brew, it definitely does stand up to being called one, it's now moved up the scale a little. It's available in most bars nowadays, and in many cases is the closest you'll get to a micro.
I've never eaten with this one but it would be very versatile and I could recommend almost any dish. Try it with your fish and chips, or a hamburger.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
andaryl
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Member: Andrew Smith
Location: California via Yorkshire
Reviews written: 465
Trusted by: 345 members
About Me:
I just watch a lot of movies. Epinions is a great excuse.
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