Review Date 8/4/2014
Try? Re-buy?
Price
Meter
High!
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 Yvan the Great Belgian-Style Blonde 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 13th 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 Yvan the Great Belgian-Style Blonde that I’m drinking tonight. This is the fifth bottle (or can for that matter) that I’ve popped from the sampler. 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 Yvan the Great is on deck by that criteria.
Yvan the Great is a collaborative effort with California's Russian River Brewing Company. I've only had a few of their beers, but always been impressed when I have. So, I was looking forward to this beer, and I was not disappointed.
From the label:
As longtime friends, Russian River brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo and our own Brian Grossman are no strangers to brewing experiments. While looking for inspiration for this collaboration, Vinnie and Brian decided to honor the creations of legendary Belgian brewer Yvan De Baets with their own hop-forward American-Belgian mash-up.
Ingredients from the website:
Yeast -Belgian ale
Bittering Hops -Brewer's Gold
Finishing Hops -Celeia, Strisselspalt
Malts -Two-row Pale, Golden Promise, Acidulated
Yvan the Great has an alcohol content of 6.3% by volume and 50 IBUs. That's a lot for the style, actually. Mine was bottled on 6/02/14, I assume at the Mills River facility.
Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across America Yvan the Great Belgian-Style Blonde pours to a pale golden color with a medium sized but short lived fizzy head of foam and a soft malty nose with the slightest hint of funk and spice. Taking a sip, the beer has a smooth malty palate up front followed by just the right yeasty spice notes, a very gentle hint of citrus, light clove, and then some more funky Belgian yeast character. The bitter hops really dry the beer in the finish and leave the whole affair quite refreshing, but the spicy yeast notes are what make this one so interesting. Hoppier than the norm for the style, it’s a beer that’s hard to put down.
Leffe Blonde is perhaps the best and most widely available example of this style, though if you can find them there are many other examples out there (I like Troubadour Blonde myself).
Belgian Blonde Ales are always a light and refreshing style, and when done correctly they can belie their innocent appearance with oodles of spicy flavor. Yvan the Great certainly succeeds at the latter, and is one of the best beers I've enjoyed from this sampler so far.
Sierra Nevada will be doing festivals to celebrate its efforts as well, 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