Double IPAs — Russian River vs. Sierra Nevada

Russian River
Pliny the Elder
ABV 8%

Color: Deep golden.
Aroma: Huge floral and citrus hops.
Flavor: Smooth hop candy, medium body, grapefruit.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Long, lingering citrus rind bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Fantastic

Sierra Nevada
Hoptimum
ABV 10.4%

Color: Rusty orange.
Aroma: Sweet malts, cedar, slight piny hops in the background.
Flavor: Big thick body with sweet clover honey, citrus vodka and bitter notes.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Moderate sweet burnt lemon peel.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

Blow by Blow
This Bottle Battle, featuring two California heavyweights, could certainly qualify as a main event. In one corner we had Pliny the Elder, a highly sought after double IPA from Russian River Brewing Co., that is fervently worshiped by its followers. In the other corner we had Hoptimum, a highly anticipated, new, monster imperial IPA from one of the patriarchs of craft brewing, Sierra Nevada.

It was not a fight for the faint of heart. Pliny absolutely blew us away with its aroma. It smelled something like sticking a citrus-flavored Starburst in each nostril. The flavor followed suit with a smooth body and excellent grapefruit hop candy notes. Finally, the finish was long and bitter, but honestly, we didn't really have time to contemplate it much because we were too eager to take another drink. Pliny is truly a fantastic beer and one that is totally worth the hype.

Hoptimum also brought some game. First of all, it's without a doubt, one of the coolest beer labels around. The old-fashioned looking hophead portrait should immediately become the mascot of hop lovers the world over. The stuff inside wasn't too shabby either. Aroma-wise it wasn't nearly as good as Pliny, but not many beers are. It definitely had some piny hops, unfortunately, they were hidden behind the smell of malt and cedar. The flavor was big and sweet as well, starting off with distinct honey notes and ending with a punch of vodka-soaked citrus. Yes, at 10.4% ABV, the Hoptimum had a bit of difficulty hiding the alcohol. Overall, it was a pretty good imperial IPA, but it needed some more hops in the aroma and perhaps a bit less alcohol.

Winner by unanimous decision: Pliny the Elder

Urban Beer Hike Triple Header

It was an epic night of battles as we teamed up with Urban Beer Hikes for a three location triple header. Our first stop was at Beer Authority for a Sierra Nevada Fresh Hop tap tussle.



Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere
Harvest Wet Hop Ale
ABV 6.7%

Color: Clear orange.
Aroma: Sweet malt and lemon rind.
Flavor: Toasted malt and intense piney bitterness.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Intense, long-lasting burnt toast and lemon rind bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good -

Sierra Nevada Estate
Homegrown Ale
ABV 6.7%

Color: Clear orange with slight red tint.
Aroma: Grassy with some nice citrus.
Flavor: Fresh, grassy hops with good malty sweetness as well.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Pleasant mellow bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good +

Blow by Blow
We were pleased to find two fresh hop beers from Sierra Nevada on tap so we promptly threw them into the ring together to see who would reign supreme.

Both were served really cold, so it was kind of difficult to decipher the aromas but the Estate clearly had the upper hand. It offered the classic fresh, grassy hops with a nice citrus element as well. The Harvest struggled with its aroma and ended up being mostly sweet toasted malts with some piney hops in the background.

The Estate continued to dominate in the flavor and finish while the Harvest was exposed as a one dimensional bitter bomb without any of the typical fresh hop flavors. We all agreed that if we had tasted the Harvest blind, we probably wouldn't have guessed it was a fresh hop.

Winner by unanimous decision: Estate Homegrown.

The second fight on the card featured two bottles purchased at Big Star Beer Market. The theme: Beers named after tasty marine animals.



Porterhouse Brewing
Oyster Stout
ABV 4.8%

Color: ? (We drank from the bottle. Probably dark.)
Aroma: ? (Hard to smell anything through the neck of a bottle.)
Flavor: Cola, chocolate, coffee, earth.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Balanced
Finish: Bitter lemon and coffee.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre +

Rinkuskiu Alaus Darykla
Lobster Lovers Beer
ABV 9.5%

Color: ? (We drank from the bottle. Probably amber.)
Aroma: Sweet (We could even smell it through the neck of the bottle.)
Flavor: Sweet cough syrup with some Belgian yeast characteristics.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Sweet and medicinal.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Bad

Blow by Blow
It was an international duel with Lobster Lovers hailing from Lithuania and Oyster Stout coming from Ireland. They both were feisty even before the fight as the Lobster offered an enticing naked lady/lobster label and the Oyster countered with the novelty of a pull off cap.

In the ring things got ugly quick. The big Lithuanian was sweet and medicinal, just a mess of a beer. We couldn't even finish it. The Oyster Stout won by virtue of being not quite as bad. It had some weird sweet cola flavor that took away from the chocolate and coffee stout flavors.

Winner by unanimous decision: Oyster Stout.

The final battle turned out to be a can clash featuring beers that we purchased at the 85th St. Market, a place with a surprisingly good beer selection and an extremely nice owner named Chuck.



Maui Brewing Co.
Bikini Blonde Lager
ABV 4.5%

Color: ? (We drank from the can. Probably light yellow.)
Aroma: ? (Hard to smell anything through the mouth of the can.)
Flavor: Sweet, smooth, creamy and easy drinking. Dave noted that it had tiny bubbles (very Don Ho of it.)
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Sweet and malty.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good -

Oskar Blues
Mama's Little Yella Pils
ABV 5.3%

Color: ? (We drank from the can. Probably light yellow.)
Aroma: ? (Hard to smell anything through the mouth of the can.)
Flavor: Crisp, with light citrus hops and some graininess.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Balanced
Finish: Grain and teeny, tiny bit of citrus hop bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good -

Blow by Blow
These beers are meant for hot weather, but we decided to see what they were made of on a mild October night in Seattle.

It kind of turned into a slap fight with a lot of flailing of the arms without much contact. Both beers were predictably simple and didn't offer much more than something to wash down whatever you're eating.

Turns out, Dave and I have different preferences when it comes to simple, session beers. He prefers something a bit sweeter and thus chose the Bikini Blonde, I prefer something with some kind of hop presence so I went with Mama's.

Final note: We rated them both "Good -", but they would probably be rated higher if we tried them on a hot day. They both would definitely be acceptable for a beach or a bbq.

Split decision: I chose the Pils, Dave chose the Lager. (Ellen sat this one out.)

Summer Beers — Sierra Nevada vs. New Belgium

Sierra Nevada Summerfest Lager
ABV 5%

Color: Crystal clear, bright, sunny yellow.
Aroma: Clean, floral, some dry grains, lemon and distinct Belgian yeast notes (spicy cloves).
Flavor: Sweet and citrusy, like grapefruit sprinkled with sugar.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Mild citrus hoppy bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

New Belgium Skinny Dip
(brewed with Kaffir Lime Leaf)
ABV 4.2%

Color: Crystal clear, amber orange.
Aroma: Floral hops and some caramel malts.
Flavor: Thin, sweet lemon water.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Not much, just sort of disappears.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre

Winner by unanimous decision: Summerfest.
It may be hard for those of us in the Northwest to believe, but summer starts in four days. If you dig the hot weather, spring has been a serious disappointment. It hasn't hit 75º yet this year in Seattle, but when it does, you'll want to have a cold craft beer in your hand to celebrate the occasion.

In an attempt to kick-start the hot weather we threw two summer seasonals into the ring and let them have at it. The Summerfest didn't mess around. It dropped the Skinny in the second round with a devastating combination of crisp, refreshing flavor and surprising complexity. Honestly, we suspect that the Skinny Dip didn't train hard enough for this fight. It tasted like a thin amber ale and the kaffir lime leaf was hardly detectable. The Summerfest, on the other hand, was a fantastic summer sipper. It was light and crisp enough to quaff, but also offered ample flavor and complexity to tickle your taste buds.

Sierra Nevada will be pouring their Summerfest at the 2010 Washington Brewers Festival this weekend. If you're smart, you'll drop all of your previous plans and head out to the festival for some Summerfest and hopefully some sun to go along with it.

In the interest of full disclosure to satisfy the FTC’s law, this battle features a sample bottle received from the New Belgium Brewery.

IPAs — Sierra Nevada vs. Scuttlebutt

Sierra Nevada Torpedo
Extra IPA
ABV 7.2%, IBU 65

Color: Clear amber orange with brisk carbonation.
Aroma: Pine needle jolly rancher (maybe they should make that flavor?).
Flavor: Sweet maltiness, followed by piney hop bitterness.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy.
Finish: Malty with a sharp and sweet hop bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good+

Scuttlebutt Gale Force IPA
ABV 5.25%, IBU 96

Color: Cloudy amber orange with noticeably less carbonation.
Aroma: Sweet malt, citrus and earthy grain.
Flavor: Starts sweet and toasty then moves to a nice balanced citrus hoppiness. Very smooth, almost creamy.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Tart acidic hop bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

Winner by unanimous decision: Sierra Nevada. This was a hard one. Both are very solid IPAs. The edge went to the Torpedo for its smooth mouthfeel and great balance of sweet malt to temper the aggressive piney hops. We got more of the citrus and floral hop qualities from the Gale Force, but it finished just a bit too bitter for our tastes. We were very surprised to see that the Scuttlebutt was packing 96 IPAs — they really integrated the hops well, because it was not overwhelmingly bitter at all. Also, big props to the Scuttlebutt for clocking in at a sessionable 5.25% ABV. Both are worthy of your fridge. Keep the Gale Force up front for daily consumption and the Torpedo in the back for those trying days when a bit more alcohol is exactly what you need to wind down.