Price
Meter
High!
Ok, that’s it. Game over. Now I’ve seen everything! See, a “Session IPA” is really a style that doesn’t exist. It’s just a super hoppy, thin malty American Pale Ale that’s kind of like a downgraded India Pale Ale. With Moxee-Moron Imperial Session IPA, however, Sierra Nevada has taken one of those and ramped it back up to IPA strength. Making it an IPA again, NOT am “imperial session IPA”. You can’t have an imperial session ale, folks! Certainly, you can session an imperial beer, but a beer can’t be session and imperial at the same time. It’s an oxymoron. Or, ummm, Moxee-Moron. as the case may be. Anyway, it’s all in good fun and Sierra Nevada acknowledges the dichotomy with the name.
There have been some changes, though, since the last time Sierra Nevada did the big Beer Camp assortment two years ago. Back in 2014, the 12-Pack had 12 different beers; this time it’s two bottles each of 6. Then too, the first go-round featured for each brew a collaboration with Sierra Nevada and a unique brewer per beer. Now, each beer is a joint effort between Sierra Nevada and several notable brewers.
In addition, I had to spend some time hunting down the first one; this time, the Beer Camp Across America 12-pack found me. I was in Total Wine in early May when I spied them in a large display; several customers were already walking out the door with them. Tonight, I’m drinking the Moxee-Moron.
From the label:
The city of Moxee, WA, is in the heart of the Yakima Valley hop growing region and this Imperial Session IPA-a style contradiction-honor’s the Pacific Northwest’s hop bomb heritage. Moxee-Moron features hops in the mash, the kettle, the Hop Torpedo, and the fermenter for ultra -complex hop aromas and flavors in an ironically named package.
Beer Camp Across America Moxee-Moron Imperial Session IPA has an alcohol content of 7.5% by volume with 70 IBUs. The 12-pack this year ran $30, which is really a bit ridiculous folks. My bottle was packaged on 04/05/16 and I took my initial tasting notes on July 15th. This beer is a collaboration between Sierra Nevada, Bale Breaker Brewing, Barley Brown’s Beer, Black Raven Brewing, Melvin Brewing, and Odell Brewing.
Ingredients from the website:
Bittering Hops: Simcoe, Mosaic
Finishing Hops: Simcoe, Mosaic, Citra, Experimental
Malts: Two Row Pale, Pilsner, Munich, Wheat
Beer Camp Across America Moxee-Moron Imperial Session IPA pours to a bright orange color with a thick fluffy white head of foam and gentle notes of citrus in the nose. Taking a sip, the beer has a light maltiness up front followed by bitter citrus peel and a dry spicy long bitter finish. And that’s about it. Like a session IPA with more body, or an India Pale Ale without a lot of malt.
Not a bad beer, worthy of a 3 ½ in my book, less a half star for the high price. Not a rebuy at this price point either. Still, it went very well with a hot steak off the grill, grilled veggies and a baked potato.
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