Sierra Nevada Hoppy Lager
Last summer we teamed up with San Diego’s Ballast Point for a hop-head twist on a crisp lager. We remixed this encore which is loaded with whole cone hops in the brew kettle and in our Hop Torpedo to deliver a bold aroma backed by smooth malt flavor.
3.6
608 reviews
Chico, United States
Community reviews
The most flavorful LAGER I’ve ever had. Tastes more like an IPA THAN a lager.
Bottle from notes. Pours a clear golden color with a medium sized off white head. The aroma and flavor have bready and crackery malts, citrus, floral and grassy hops, some bitterness, nice imperial pils.
Pristine golden color with a light orange tint at the core. Some sweet malt and slight corn with a slight orange citrus on the nose. On the taste I get a sweet malt and orange flavor translating to a marmalade character. A bit alcoholic and sweetfor a hoppy lager.
Sample at SBWF 2016. A bit hazy golden/yellow with a white head. Aroma and taste of hops, some bread, citrus, orange and light caramel. The body was medium as was the bitterness.
This stuff is kind of interesting, which is different than good but also different than bad. The surprising thing is the first thing I notice is strong, grain-husky kind of malt character in the nose. The malt is nice enough but the hop character I am not crazy about. It has a real green, vegetable quality to it. It’s a bit sweet but nothing too bad and has medium body w/ crisp carbonation to cut it. This is drinkable for sure--maybe even solid--but really I am finding it hard to find good things to say about it.
Where and how: tasting VB (bottle 12 oz.)
Aroma: nice clean, crisp hoppy character. Nothing overly intense…leafy greens at end.
Appearance :
Top: nicely presenting larger white cap with ornamental lacing.
Base: hazy amber
Palate : medium bodied, slightly chalky, milder carbonation.
Taste: malts -rye bread like, plenty of tannins. Mid – black tea like. This is hoppy lager but approach is too raw for my liking.
Bottle pours brilliant clear copper with a beautifully lasting and lacy white head. Aroma is hoppy, hay, grass, tea, and cereal grains. The flavor is very balanced, somewhat sweet yet quite hoppy, very rustic. Crisp feel, fairly full body. Solid.
It pours yellow with a large white, quickly fading head. It has the aroma of cooked vegetables, tropical fruit, citrus and a earthy aroma.This is very clean tasting with a intense bitterness to it. I taste resin, a earthy flavor, grass, pine and herbs. I really enjoyed everything about this beer other than the aroma. I’m glad I bought this and I recommend it to others.
Light hoppy smell, good taste..light hoppiness and one dimentional though...lightly sweet finish...just like their 11.5 Plato.... Deirdre’s bat mitzvah
Nice hop character, great appearance, paddle color, slight haze lots of bubbles.
Bottle. Nice beer, kinda exactly what you’d expect. The lager version of Torpedo. Nice hop character, easy to drink, not too crazy. Decent malt backbone.
Straight from bottle (sorry). Pine, light citrus, sap. Pine, bitter orange pith. Medium body. Not bad but overly bitter finish in my opinion.
Bottle in Seattle. Stringy soapy head on clear copper orange. Cleaner hop crispness on a more amber malt-lager aroma. Resiny amber sweet body, some round tart alcohol. Not exactly crisp but pretty nice for a ’hoppy/strong/lager’, not a typical category.
Golden yellow color. Crisp hoppy aromas, citrus, malt base. Taste is really good for a lager, sweet malt base with a lot of fresh and crisp hop flavors, citrus, grass and pine. Slight bitter hop finish.
At 7% ABV, Sierra Nevada’s Hoppy Lager’s strength is a bit more substantial than the steadily growing pool of IPL’s that tend to keep the alcohol level fitting for a session ale. Still, Hoppy Lager is a light-drinking beer, albeit one with a fair amount of bitterness. Golden yellow pour. Herbal and floral hop aromas and yeast. The taste strikes a good balance between sweet bread and grassy hops. In a day filled with California Lagers, Hoppy Lager was the hoppiest, and - no surprise - the one I liked best.
It’s a great cross between lager and ipa. Easy to drink hot summer days but with a litle bulk.
Golden color with a large white head. Aroma is slight grassy hops with light bread yeast. Flavor is slight grassy hops with a crisp, clean finish.
12oz bottle. Filtered orange-tan body. Big, steady, white head. A pretty awesome Imperial Hoppy Lager IPL kind of thing. Full bodied, but drinks really clean, solid lager tones, pleasant well rounded hoppiness. Great beer.
On tap at P&P Charleston. Clear golden with small white head. Aroma is herbal hops, medium body, lower carbonation, and a little lacing. Taste is herbal hops and bitter finish.
Class B shelfie consumed from bottle at Bell B Que 2016. Aroma is light citrus fruits, floral, and a touch of biscuit maltiness. Taste is crisp with mild bitterness and some balancing sweetness. Nice creamy mouthfeel and overall pretty decent.
Beer Camp is not the same (Tropical IPA) ..which doesn’t seem as smooth and refreshing as last year’s Hoppy Lager. The hoppy lagers seem a little more refreshing in the hot spring/summer FL heat. This was probably the best lager (Hoppy or non) that I’ve had actually. I’ll be looking out for it again.
Bottle from systembolaget sweden. Semi lasting off white head. Clowdy golden color. Small clean malty aroma. Sweet malty taste with a balanced bitterness. Big body.
Bottle. Clear gold, thin white head. Tropical fruit aromas, grassy hops and floral elements. Hop dominated - tropical fruit, grass, flowers. Very dry. Malty finish.
Stale hop aroma, cloudy tan. Stale hop and medium bitterness....okay just not at its best.
12 oz bottle shared with ebone1988 from Dumpster Box No. 2. This one is old. 2015 on the label. The pour is a dark orange golden color with a stormy white head and a big of spicy lace. The aroma is pretty old. There is a strong mash smell. There is a sweet potato blast all over it. There isn't really any hoppiness as this is just a malt bomb. It's not really anything worth drinking at this point. The flavor is much of the same. Just a heavy maltiness. It's a little bitter but has the sweet potato mash happening. This isn't good at all. The mouth feel is interesting. There is a bit of carbonation and a little syrupy tendency that is carrying it. It's sweet and lingering on the finish. It could be better if its fresh.
Big IPA style hops and lots of chewing make for a very nice and contemplative beer. Nutty and dry. Very nice.
KØLF 131115. Golden colour with an off-white head. Aroma is fruit, malt, hop, citrus. Flavour is fruit, , hop, oxidation, malt, citrus, pine. Medium body. Ordinary beer.
Fruty taste and aroma. Rich in hops so very bitter in taste. I recommend it with my eyes closed.
Poured into a snifter.
4.0 A: Clear light orange color. Two fingers of frothy off-white head. Retention is good and plenty of lacing is left.
4.0 S: Clean lager maltiness with cracker component. Pleasant, reasonably powerful floral and grassiness hoppiness with a touch of grapefruit and nondeScript citrus.
4.5 T: This is really good. Supremely clean with crackery maltiness and a moderate neutral sweetness. Again grassy and floral hops dominant with citrus undertones. The hops are perfect in this. Lots of flavor with a mild bitterness that doesn’t interfere with the lager.
4.5 M: Light to lighter medium body. Good moderate carbonation. Crisp and clean with a nice creaminess. Very good here.
4.75 D: Really love this beer. I’ve bought 3 sixers of this so far. This is the type of beer that you can drink all night.
★ 843 characters
DavoleBomb, Jan 23, 2015
Om Sierra Nevada är orsaken kan man vara säker på en positiv verkan. Sådan är den kausalitet som detta bryggeri har etablerat med sin smakfulla ölproduktion. En lagbundenhet som är lika välbelagd och beforskad (av mig) som Newtons tyngdlag. Denna Hoppy Lager får en att falla i farstun med samma hastighet som äpplet från trädet.