A few months ago (I can’t recall exactly when) I first learned of Sierra Nevada’s plans for their 2014 Beer Camp Sampler. This isn’t the first year, of course, that they’ve done a Beer Camp 12-pack, and I look forward to the variety of beers they deliver, each a special formulation by a homebrewer. At least that’s usually the case, anyway. For 2014, Sierra Nevada wanted to do something a little differently.

Hence, Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across America. This time around, the sampler would in fact offer 12 unique brews, each a collaboration with a highly regarded brewery. The beers would be brewed at Sierra Nevada’s two facilities: Chico, California, and Mills River, North Carolina. More than an eclectic gathering of special beers, this sampler shines through as a symbol of the collective spirit craft brewers hold, a spirit of respect and admiration for finely crafted beer that transcends the competitive drive.

The 12 beers in the sampler include (from the Sierra Nevada Website):

•Allagash Brewing Company, Portland, Maine -- Myron’s Walk Belgian-Style Pale Ale

•Asheville Brewers Alliance, Asheville, N.C. -- Tater Ridge Scottish Ale

•Ballast Point Brewing Company, San Diego, Calif. -- Electric Ray India Pale Lager

•Bell’s Brewery, Inc., Kalamazoo, Mich. -- Maillard’s Odyssey Imperial Dark Ale

•Cigar City Brewing, Tampa, Fla. -- Yonder Bock Tropical Maibock (CAN)

•Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles, Calif. -- Torpedo Pilsner Hoppy Pilsner

•New Glarus Brewing Company, New Glarus, Wis. -- There and Back English-Style Bitter

•Ninkasi Brewing Company, Eugene, Ore. -- Double Latte Coffee Milk Stout

•Oskar Blues Brewery, Longmont, Colo./Brevard, N.C. -- CANfusion Rye Bock (CAN)

•Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Rosa, Calif. -- Yvan the Great Belgian-Style Blonde

•3 Floyds Brewing Company, Munster, Ind. -- Chico King Pale Ale

•Victory Brewing Company, Downingtown, Pa. -- Alt Route Altbier

It’s the CANfusion Rye Bock that I’m drinking tonight, and more on that in a minute. First, though, I had to find the sampler, and I knew that wasn’t going to be an easy task. I e-mailed Sherlocks in Kennesaw about it, but didn’t get a response. Total Wine couldn’t tell me when it was coming in. I only found out when pictures started appearing in Honest Craft Beer Reviews, and then I made it a mission to get a 12-pack. Luckily, Sherlocks had just gotten them in, and I raced there in time to score (along with a bonus 13^th bomber of a Beer Camp West Coast Double IPA).

The price was not as welcome a surprise, however: $25 is steep indeed, and $5 more than I paid for last year’s Beer Camp 12-pack. That was overpriced as well in my book. Prices seem to vary across the country according to accounts in Honest Craft Beer Reviews, with prices as low as $17 and as high as $30 being reported. $25 seems to be the median price, and as much as I complain about price it’s important to note you are paying for 12 unique singles here, and that is a mitigating factor. Then too, these aren’t beers to pop in succession over a weekend, but to be savored over a series of nights one by one.

My advice: don’t let the high price keep you from this one.

OK, now to the CANfusion Rye Bock  that I’m drinking tonight. This is the eighth bottle (or can for that matter) that I’ve popped from the sampler, meaning I am now past the halfway point in my beer camping. The plan had been to drink them in order of strength, smallest to largest. But our own Tom Beer Whisperer Mulvihill teased me awhile back with the notions of sweet potato in beer in a brew that included them. Since Tater Ridge also used that tuber as an ingredient, it was the first to be popped. I'm now drinking them in order of alcohol content, and CANfusion is next on deck by that criteria.

CANfusion is a collaborative effort with Colorado's Oskar Blues brewery. Sierra Nevada and Oskar Blues have both opened new breweries in North Carolina and are scant miles apart in Asheville. This is the first canned beer I've opened from the sampler, and I'll let Sierra Nevada explain why that is quite appropriate.

From the label:

Brewed in collaboration with Oskar Blues, the pioneers of great craft beer in a can. this partnership was a perfect fit-we're mutual members of the canned craft club and North Carolina neighbors. A dry hop rye bock, CANfusion blends features from across the brewing spectrum: spicy rye, tangy wheat and bright citrus-like hops. The complex malt body launches a peppery blast that's balanced by the fruity and floral Australian Ella hop varietal. CANfusion is a true synergy of friends and flavors.

Ingredients from the website:

Yeast-Lager

Bittering Hops -Summit

Finishing Hops -Aurora, Ella

Malts -Two-row Pale, Full Pint, Rye, Red Wheat, Munich, Melanoidan, Acidulated

CANfusion Rye Bock has an alcohol content of 7.2% by volume and 45 IBUs. This is the only Beer Camp Across America brew I've seen on tap at Taco Mac, and I passed at $7 for the full mug draft. Taco Mac did announce they will have all 12 on tap at the Prado location in special flights of four. having had them all, I think I'll pass. My CANfusion Rye Bock was packaged on 6/03/14, I assume at the Mills River facility.

Beer Camp CANfusion Rye Bock pours to a bright orange color with a very thick foamy head and a wonderfully complex nose of spicy rye and fragrant fruity hops. Taking a sip, this one isn’t very bock-like to me, neither hellerbock nor bock nor doppelbock. I get caramel malts up front more reminiscent of a rye IPA than a bock, though I do get the spicy, peppery rye, and in abundance. That’s the best part about this one, I think. The hops are citrusy and fruity in the finish and very, very bitter. They linger long and dry and leave a very impressive sharp herbal bitterness.

Make no mistake, this is a very tasty beer indeed, worthy of 4 stars in my book. It’s not a bock, though, and half a star off for promising me one and not delivering.

Sierra Nevada will be doing festivals to celebrate its Beer Camp efforts, and you can read more about them here.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft



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