Sierra Nevada Golden IPA

The golden ale is our rendition of the classic West-Coast style IPA. It’s light bodied and intense with citrus and piney whole-cone Cascade hops - the signature flavor of the American IPA.

3.4

179 reviews

Chico, United States

Community reviews

3.7 Pours golden with fluffy white head. Nose is light citrus hops, grapefruit. Taste is the same: citrus, light bread, orange, grapefruit pith, floral. Super light and solid

3.5 Bottle shared by Chris R. Poured clear golden color with an average white frothy head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate citrus balanced aroma. Medium body with a slick texture and soft carbonation. Medium bittersweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate duration. Good brew.

3.1 Nice fresh floral and grapefruit hoppy nose. A little light all around after that. Ok, just not able to stand up to today’s IPAs.

3.5 12 fl oz bottle. Pours a golden hue with a large pillowy white head. Aromas are woody pine dominant. Tastes are resin and dry citrus with balanced with woody malts. Light to medium body and carbonation, long resinous finish. ---Rated via Beer Buddy

4.0 Pours a mostly clear golden yellow color with a thick off white head that retained well and left a good amount of lacing around the glass. The aroma is bready malts, grapefruit, and some pine. The taste is quite refreshing up front with some grape juice flavor and sweet bready malts. Then you pick up the pine and hop bitterness on the backside. Overall, a very good beer.

3.5 Nice refreshing and easy drinkable IPA. A fine clear golden color with a lasting white head. Solid lacing. A pale malt dominated ale. Also mild citric hoppy and mild fruity. Medium body and a fine carbonation. Mellow sweetness and a fine bitterness. Nice and well balanced ale. [Bottle from Martin’s Off Licence in Dublin, Ireland]

3.8 Bottle: Golden in color, moderate to large foamy white head, nice lacing. Bright in color too. Always a good looking IPA coming from Sierra Nevada. Crisp malt nose, a little citrus hop bite as well. Similar on the tongue. Smooth, lightly hopped, with a great complimentary malt background. Drinks like a lighter pale, but flavorful, with a good body. Moderate to full body and mouthfeel. Clean crisp finish. These guys cannot seem to do any wrong when it comes to Pale Ales or IPAs. Another great brew! Thanks Ron!

3.2 Pours cloudy yellow to golden with fluffy head. Aroma is citrus and sweet malt. Flavor is citrus and pine. Not very complex but Overall.good as a west coast ipa. Bitterness is not overwhelming with it eas stronger

3.5 Bottle from O’Brien’s, Athlone [130815] Golden, clear, frothy white head, some lacing Aroma of lemon, citrus, light sweet pale malts, light citrus Taste of lemon, citrus zest, soft pine, fairly bitter hops, soft citrus fruit Palate - Soft carb, medium light body, soft light sweet pale malt, easy going, no alcohol. Finish as main flavour. Overall - Sold as an ’approachable’ IPA, well balanced, easy going.

2.8 Bottle from McHughs. Pours clearish golden. Cereal, cream, slightly citrus. Not a huge hop Aroma of this. Malt forward. Quite sweet malts with bread, corn, slight bitter. A little astringent. This is not an ipa more a blonde unless it hasn’t travelled well getting to Ireland.

3.2 Bottle, shared at brewclub. Pours a medium, well retained off white head, with slight lacing, over a clear gold (SRM 5) body.......nose is light cereal malts, herbal hops with pine, citrus notes, no esters, balance to the hops.....taste is slightly malt sweet, hints of cereal, no esters, bitter throughout, finish is pine, resin, grapefruit citrus, balance to the hops....mouth feel, light body, no alcohol, medium carbonation. This is a hop dominated IPA that is somewhat light. If needs more malt complexity and perhaps toasted malt and/or crystal/caramel malts would correct BJCP 7/3/12/4/6

3.5 Pours golden with a very short lived white head. Some orange marmalade on the nose, a little pine but not much else, unlike a sierra nevada. Very nice mouthfeel, sweet marmalade, lemon and lime taste is balanced out by a smooth bitterness. Taste more than makes up for the lack of aroma.

3.4 Bottle. Clear rich gold with a short white head with some lacing. Hoppy aroma is apricot jam, orange marmalade, herbs, pine sap, fruit cocktail / pear / white grape. Malt is honey-ish and saccharine sweet. Medium body, rich and gelatinous with a bitter-sticky finish. SN has a good record recently with IPAs (save for the Southern Hemisphere), and Cascade is as good a hop as any for the style, showing more orange and apricot character and less pine / tropical fruit like so many other American hops. I don’t see it as something I would drink regularly, when I can get a similar character from the Full Sail Cascade Pils, at lower alcohol and lighter body. Still this is better than 90% of IPAs on the market, since it’s clean, relatively balanced, not overly sweet and not an American caramel malt bomb.

2.7 Bottle to shaker glass. Pours a clear light yellow with a decent white head. Some citrus notes on the nose, but not much else. A tad thin on the mouthfeel, but good bitter hop character. Somewhat watery.

3.5 Aroma is piny, malty, tropical. Appearance is golden, white head. Taste is light, balanced, with a hint of pine and malt. Mouthfeel is light, crisp, decent carbonation. Overall, an easy drinker but I’d prefer their Pale Ale as an easy drinker.

3.1 Bottle. Colored as the name suggests, shiny as bullion. Thin white head. Aroma is sharp, peppery. A dollop of honey and cracker-like malt. Flavor displays an aged citrusy quality, like dried orange peel. Unexciting.

3.3 Bottle from Safeway. Medium golden/amber in color. Very dry sort of a hop nose. Sweet malty flavors with a spicy hop character up front. Fairly malty with a pretty good hop balance.

3.3 Bottle given to me by a brewing buddy. Pours a true golden copper, fluffy white head, lotsa lacing. Nose is a little malt, touch of hop. Tastes sweet, a little spice, bitter, manly pine hop. Not really getting a wheaty taste that I would expect.

3.7 Bottle. Orange malt and pine/spruce aroma. Golden yellow with large off-white head. Sweet orange/mango, malt and moderately bitter pine flavor. Good body. Pretty good.

3.5 Clear golden body with a sticky white head. The aroma is solid cascade hops, with some sweet malt in there as well. The flavor is not mind blowing but is nicely balanced and a solid beer. Would not say it’s on par with the more aggressive WC ipa’s out there. Comes off like a slightly larger SNPA, with a touch more bitterness.

2.0 Pours light clear gold with plenty of frothy white head. Aroma is earthy pine and crisp citrus with some sweet character from the cascade hops. Taste is light and estery with mild bitterness and a funky biscuity finish. Sub par.

3.6 Great pour on this brew. Flavor is hoppy but mild and not overpowering. Refreshing aftertaste as well.

3.5 Bottle from Jaws at B&B Paint and Body. Classic west coast IPA. Clean crisp bitterness with a little sweet malt for balance. Pleasant.

3.4 There is some good and clean flavor here, just seems like it could be a little stronger or more of. Semi-watered down with a near-session IPA feel. Thinking with the mass distribution of the 4-way IPAs, these are becoming almost macro at this point. Enjoyable and very drinkable for this time of the year...just not quite feeling the old "craft" versions of Sierra any more (most of the time).

3.4 Bottle@ trailer; 02.08.2015. Clear amber color with ivory head. Mild pine, citrusy, dusty cracker malt aromas. Medium bodied. Fruity, citrusy, spicy hoppy flavors with a dusty pale malt base brew---drying finish____good.

3.7 Bottle, aroma of melon and citrus a bit mild, taste is stronger, well balanced, great beer

3.1 Bottle. Packaged on: 03/06/15. A hazy amber pour with a thick beige head. The relatively subtle aroma features some zesty citrus rinds, orange juice, grapefruits, lemons, and a touch of caramel. Fairly thin-bodied on the way down. Semi-sweet caramel upfront in the taste along with some corn and a wheaty graininess. Mildly bitter citrus qualities feature prominently at the end. Forgettable.

4.1 Tend to drink right from bottle so don’t get good look at it. But the smell taste and finish is pretty fn good. Would most def recommend this beer to all who like IPA keep up the great work sierra nevana

3.5 12 oz bottle poured into a Belgian tulip. The aroma is at first fresh bread, which fades to more of a lemon and pine cone with hints of grass and a touch of honey and spice. The beer is an effervescent, bright, slightly hazy, honey gold with a white, dense, frothy and rocky head that retains well and has good lace. Medium bitter and medium sweet on the finish. The texture is oily with a foamy and airy carbonation, and a medium light body containing woody notes and spice as well as bitter citrus. It finishes clean with honey, bittersweet citrus, and pine. The aftertaste is a strong bitter wax, but it’s fairly short and ends with a clean, dry, resinous feel and a hint of citrus rind.

3.5 An average beer for Sierra Nevada, which means it’s still better than most of the other beers in a grocery store. It pours a bright yellow, lots of crackling head. The aroma is lemongrass, butter, pine. The flavor is bright and light. A little citrus, a little bread, and a dry white wine quality in the finish. Not bad at all.