Hoptimum, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Chico, CA
Originally posted 3/23/2012:
This may be the beer of the year….
The only reason this isn’t my favorite beer of the year is the price. However, this is a masterpiece that should be enjoyed with a life celebration. Beautiful hop nose has a subtle lemon note that bleeds through if you pay close attention. The initial taste is just as gorgeous and an expert here said it to “have a sweet flower taste”, that to me, was subtle lemon, delicious. The brief flash of lemon gives way to a chewy, bready texture that dissolves in the mouth like a moist Atlantic City sub roll and then quickly disappears. I was told this is a result of the high quality malt. Which, when coupled with the high quality whole cone hops, explains the price. Worth every cent of the almost $10 I paid for the four pack.
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Enjoying the 2013 version at the time of this comment. Its maybe a little bit different this time around. I’ll try again and write back in a day or so but right now, its a little different than what’s described in the 2012 comment write up. Unless I’m stoned at this point, I might be, the 2013 variant is not like what I described last year. 10.4% abv with a sharp taste that is not malt and is more bitter than what I expected with this high of an abv. Its nice, really really nice, but a distinct pronounced sharp that I’m enjoying. I will comment again in the near future and we’ll see how it tastes then
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