This isn't your average beer. This is an "estate" ale composed of ingredients grown on the grounds of the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, CA. Much like a Chateau where the wine in the bottle is made exclusively from grapes grown on the owned estate land and nothing else--it's common for company to buy wine or "juice" from several wineries and blend it. Breweries buy their ingredients and Sierra Nevada has broken new ground by growing their own. Ok. Let's see if it was worth it...
Appearance: A clear medium red rose with a thick, voluptuous, buzzing, two-finger head that slinks some nice lacing around the edge of the glass. 8.8/10
Body: Medium and smooth with delicate, well-structured and restrained carbonation. 9.1
Nose: Clean wet hop nose. Pine sap, orange rind, grapefruit juice, sage and a hint of mint. The malt notes are on the toffee side with some caramel nuances. 7.9/10
Taste: Zesty hops kick off the flavor with orange bitters and are returned by the aforementioned toffee malts. Kind of “eh…”8.0/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Comment: I really wanted to love this beer. I absolutely love the concept and I want to support it but the beer simply didn’t delivery for $13. Now, this isn't to say I won't try the next release, just that I wouldn't bother spending the money to try it a second time.
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