Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

I've always had a love-hate relationship with Sierra Nevada. What I mean by that is I hate their beers, but like a girl who always falls for the bad boy, I keep going back for more... "Trust me, he's changed... this time'll be different!" My gripe with Sierra Nevada is that all of their beers have tasted the same. They've all been hoppy, bitter and generally unpleasant to drink. Once every three or four months I decide to bring home a bottle of whatever the newest Sierra Nevada beer is, and see if things have changed. Well, they haven't...

If you think terroir is a load of BS, you probably skip this review. You see, this bottle of Sierra Nevada's Estate Brewers Harvest Ale is all about brewing locally and using ingredients produced by Sierra Nevada. The idea is that by being able to control the conditions and quality of the hops and barley, the brewers at Sierra Nevada will be able to create a beer that has a unique sense of place and taste like it came from Chico, California. If that isn't terroir, I don't know what is.

I've been looking forward to this beer ever since it was announced that Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada would be collaborating. I really like the Dogfish Head beers I've had, but I haven't been real crazy about Sierra Nevada's brews. I was anxious to see how Dogfish Head's extreme beer styles would jive with Sierra Nevada's tendencies to just throw a bunch of hops into a bottle and call it beer. Ok, that's a bit harsh... but that's what my experience with Sierra Nevada has been. I finally got the chance to have a glass of Life & Limb on tap and was quite pleasantly surprised.

You know, I like to think that my ideal picture of Christmas is pretty mainstream. My list of favorite Christmastime things includes eggnog, chocolate covered pretzels, fudge, stuffing and so on. Something that has never ever crossed my mind in regards to festive holiday season flavors would have to be India Pale Ales. Maybe it's just me, but I prefer to eat and drink rich, sweet and savory things during the holidays... Bitter IPAs just don't sound appetizing when I get into Christmas mode. I mean, I can totally see having egg nog in one hand and a Vanilla Porter in the other hand. If you haven't caught on yet, Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale is an IPA, a hoppy and bitter beer that I want no where near my turkey and gravy. Gross...