I recently heard some derisive comments about Sierra Nevada, but I dismissed those out of hand. The fact is, they have been all over the place, but my general impression of them is that they try hard, and sometimes they hit. For some reason, they've decided to jump in and describe things as juicy or hazy, and I just have to learn to accept that. This one is an IPA that theoretically should have quite a hoppy flavor. I like a hoppy IPA, so that is just fine by me.
First sip is a mixed bag. The juiciness seems to be there with a lot of relatively indistinct fruits, but a bitterness and dryness settle in fairly quickly to remove anything that would be considered juicy. The malt is kind of dusty, and I can't imagine this was intended to be sipped like this. It just isn't working somehow, and I can't quite put my finger on it. It reminds me of the experimental beverages that I had that were similarly confounding.
Tip-in is grapefruit, orange, and kiwi rinds with fairly furious carbonation sting. The middle continues with the strange carbonation takeover of the mouth while fruit tries to coalesce in the center, but it seems to fail to bring a whole lot of quenching capability with it. The finish turns dry and bitter with the dusty malt confusing me entirely. Maybe it's not a malt. Maybe that's the yeast. Either way, I'm not a fan.
Bottom Line: Hoppiness is not happiness.
2.0/5
