Hazy Little Thing IPA

Of the few hazards of my job is sore throat from talking too much. Not that I actually timed it, but I think that I talked about 13 hours today. So now I am home in comfy clothes and this cool, juicy, easy going drink soothes and relaxes all that ails me.

Sidecar

Sitting at the dining room table, waiting patiently for the turkey dinner to be served, I pass the long minutes sipping on this orange peel IPA.

River Ryed

I really like this one. I'm a little sorrowful this seems to be replacing Ruthless Rye. But I suppose Sierra Nevada had some marketing reasons.

Rated 4.5 in my Untappd

Five Hop IPA

For a picnic at Mike and Jana Holmen's place, they had this beer for us. It's bitter enough and has hints of citrus and herbs over a noticeable caramel malt foundation. I enjoyed it very nice on this pleasant summer evening.

We really appreciated the Holmen family's hospitality and we got to see their little pigs.

Snow Wit

A few flakes of snow and the events for are evening are cancelled.  So I get a quiet night at home with a Snow Wit, white IPA. There's a light refreshing feel to this ale. The grassy hops combine with a kind of Belgian funk, keeping interest all the way through the glass.

It's hard to get the play on words until you read on the label, "Snow Wit is brewed seven varieties of experimental dwarf hops."

Nooner

This is the perfect beer for one hand while I have a grilling tool in the other. The taste of German-style hops and malt in this pilsner are just right for a bright sunny day outdoors.

Beer Camp

On this beautiful Spring day, Sandy made us one of our favorites for brunch -- Scotch Eggs. Sierra Nevada's Spring Seasonal Hoppy Lager is a great accompaniment. The citrus and floral hop flavors are strong to cut the spicy and savory sauce covered, sausage wrapped eggs.

Narwhal

Can a beer be too dark? Not for me. Short of burning the malt to ash, can a brewer go too far when roasting the good stuff? I hope they keep trying to find out. Narwhal Imperial Stout was developed to please me with deep intriguing roast malt flavors under a thick blanket of brown luscious foam.

On their webpage Sierra Nevada has an interesting paragraph about the kinds of malted barley chosen to go into a beer like this.  See:  http://www.sierranevada.com/beer/high-altitude/narwhal-imperial-stout

There are two other items on the web about Narwhal worth mentioning:

1.  With no conspiring beforehand, Beer Blogging friend "Crinkle" and I both wrote our experiences with this same beer on the same day. It shouldn't be surprising that great beer minds think alike. See his blog at:  http://crinkletalk.blogspot.com/2015_02_01_archive.html

And. . .

2. You may need to listen to this Narwhal song several times before you fully appreciate it:

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

Celebration Ale is "a special ale for the holidays". I find it a very appropriate for this holy day, Ash Wednesday.

This is a pale ale done just right: each sip gives a new and clearer facet of the hop character, without ever overwhelming the pleasing malt flavor.

My friend Julie Allen bought this beer for me as a "thank you" for subbing for her a few weeks ago. The best part about Julie's thank yous is that I get to drink them. But it also benefits her. It's sort of an act of self-improvement. Each time she does this, she gets better at selecting excellent beers.

Sierra Nevada Summerfest

My daughter Rachel and I spent some indoors time during the recent heat wave working on this jigsaw puzzle we found in the closet. When it was finished I celebrated with this Sierra Nevada Summerfest. It makes an interesting contrast to compare the beers pictured on this 30 year old puzzle to the beers I drink today.  Times change and so does the market.  All the beers on the puzzle were I believe US pilsners, produced for the masses.  Today a puzzle of a collage of beers could be much more interesting and varied.  The puzzle reminded me of how each of the most popular beers from back then has fared across time.  Some, like PBR, Grain Belt and Miller have lasted and are still available at almost every C-store. Even Old Style is still barely hanging in there.  Working on the puzzle brought back fading memories of brands that are no more: Stroh's, Old German and Pulaski Piwo.  As "the grass withers and the flowers fade" (1 Peter 1:24-25), let's hold on to those precious things that lasts forever.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

A pint of Sierra Nevada PaleAle went great with an Italian Stromboli at Old Chicago.

#21 in the Old Chicago World Beer Tour

Sierra Nevada Ruthless

Overlooking the fine print on this label, I didn't realize it was an IPA until I caught the extravagant aromas of citrus and spice coming from the full thick head in my beer glass.  Wow! It smells good.  I know some beer drinkers who insist that real men ought to drink straight out of the can or the bottle.  But here is a case where you would miss a major part of the experience by not getting your nose right into the bubbles.

Today our daughter Rachel got a "1" rating at a district contest for her speech on Billy Joel.  His songs have so many memorable lines, I'm sure we can each think of a favorite.  Mine is from "Piano Man",
          "And the piano sounds like a carnival,
             and the microphone smells like a beer."

Wouldn't it be great if more things in life smelled like beer?