My First Blog-icized Beer Review: Sierra Nevada’s Estate Homegrown Ale

I love beer, or eyeluvbeer, but I typically do not geek out on trying to describe it in detail.  Since I had a rare-ish bottle of Sierra Nevada’s Estate Homegrown Ale in my possession, I thought I would challenge myself and attempt to describe my tasting experience with words.  I swear I did not look at any reviews of Sierra Nevada’s Estate Homegrown Ale before writing this.  This was on purpose.  I wanted to compare my notes to those who write about beer tasting on a regular basis.  I will admit there were some hints on the bottle's label as to what I was supposed to expect.   Words like, grapefruit-like flavors, layered spicy aromas, toasted flavors, etc.

So with out further delay, here is my review.  More of a synopsis taken from my bastardized sticky notes. 

Sierra Nevada’s Estate Homegrown Ale

(Alc. 6.7% by Vol.)

Bottle:

Standard 22 ounce bottle with a well designed, attractive label that conveyed the beer's origin.  I think Sierra does a great job with their labels.

The label described the beer as an organic, wet hop ale.

Waxed sealed top.  Took a little effort to remove, but was worth it.

Disappointing, standard Sierra Nevada Pale Ale bottle cap.  I was expecting something nicer since this was deemed a rare beer on the label:  “One of the few estate made ales produced anywhere in the world”.

I feel pretty, oh so pretty...

Nicely done Sierra!

The 411

Pour and Visual Analysis:

Left the bottle like any other beer, but the rich, caramel coloration grabbed my eye.   

Good carbonation; tiny bubbles wandered up through the slightly unfiltered/cloudy liquid to produce a nice head.

Nice head! Standard SN Pale Ale cap =(.

Cloudy, unfiltered look.  Hi tiny bubbles!

Smell:

Pleasantly fragrant; strong caramel overtones and a somewhat grassy/earthy smell from the fresh hops.

Taste:

Bold, sweet, citrusy, spicy, not overly hoppy, border-line barley wine. 

My professional beer tasting notes.

Conclusion:

My mouth and nose were very impressed with Sierra Nevada’s Estate Homegrown Ale.  As mentioned, it did have a slight barley wine flavor, which I still have not developed an inkling for, but it was not so over powering as to take away the many other excellent qualities of this beer.  Part of me is beginning to regret opening this bottle as it was not a special occasion.  With beer, I seem to be like the kid at Christmas who can not wait to open presents.  I was especially disappointed with myself when I went back to the market where I purchased this gem and it was gone.  Is this beer as rare as the label conveys?  Nonetheless, each sip was thoroughly enjoyed.  It is now time to search the net to see what others are saying about Sierra Nevada’s Estate Homegrown Ale.

Astoria Part I: Fort George Brewing

We left for Astoria Friday morning.   I have lived in Oregon for 15 years and this would be my first time visiting the city.  I have driven through it several times, but had never stopped.  My lovely traveling companion was pretty much in the same boat.  However, she had never even driven through it.  What is wrong with us?  I could certainly insert a lengthy list here for myself.

Our first experience in Astoria turned out to be remarkable, despite the fact that it rained the entire time on Friday.  The city is quite the charmer.  It has extensive maritime history, beautiful historic homes, is site to several Hollywood movies and has a downtown that is quaint, but thriving with many restaurants, coffee shops and most notable for this particular piece, Fort George Brewing.

The beautiful facade

Fort George was our first libation stop.  The building was named after the grounds to which it stands on.  It was originally the site of Fort Astoria (also named Fort George) which was an active fur trading post in its heyday.  The site was added to the list of Historic places on November 5^th, 1961 and marked by the building.  Thanks Wikipedia!  You rock!  You can read more if you are interested in history of Fort Astoria by clicking the link below: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Astoria#cite_note-nhlsum-1

We stepped inside the brew pub, which was airy and rather large.  To our surprise it was fairly quiet for 4pm on a Friday. This was okay though.  It just meant that we would not have to wait long to try their extensive beer list. We were having trouble making a decision on what to order, so we opted for a taster try.  A great choice by the way at any brewing establishment that you are unfamiliar with.  Unfortunately, I typically do not heed my own advice.  You can see the list of beers that we consumed in the following photo.  Our favs were the 1811 Lager (the year Fort Asotria was founded), Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale, Nut Red Ale and Vortex IPA. On the dark side, The Coffee Girl Stout was a stand out for us.  It was somewhat humbling to see and taste the amazing beer selection that Fort George has to offer.  You can find their 1811 and Vortex IPA in 16oz cans, but they turnout so much more.  A great reason to visit the brewery! 



The beer menu with the amazing unicorn chalk drawing

Little beers rule!

Stool sample!

After consuming our tasters, our server offered us a visit of their production facility, which was just beyond the sticker plastered door and few steps away in another building. He said that we looked like we appreciated good beer.  I am not sure how you can tell that about a person, but we took it as a kind compliment, and of course took him up on his offer.

I ordered a pint of Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale before we took the brief walk over to see where this fine beer was birthed.  The entrance door was not marked well, but our server had pointed to the door that was slightly ajar and said, “just go in there”. We walked though the door to be greeted by a blue room full of kegs and then saw another door about 30 feet in front of us with a hand made sign that read “YES!  THIS IS TAP ROOM ENTRANCE”.  Wow, a tap room!  I don’t think our server mentioned this to us.  If he did, I missed it while being thoroughly immersed in our beer flight.  The tap room was fairly new, but was warm and inviting; a good place to talk about beer.  The tap list included some additional beers that were not served in the pub.  A fine gentleman named John who was in charge of the taps gave us some good information on the beers, the canning facility and the popularity of the game Corn Hole in Astoria.  From the tap room you can see everything that takes place in the brewing area, but you are allowed to go inside the production area as well, which contains a foosball table (one of my favorite table games) and a full size shuffle board court.

The famed tap room entrance

Tap Room = Heaven

Sexy foosball table and a hot game of Corn Hole taking place

Happy camper  

Finally, it was time to say goodbye to Fort George as we had to head back to walk our dogs and seek out dinner.  I wanted to visit the public house later that evening, but unfortunately we never made it. Astoria was determined to show us more of what she had to offer.  Stay tuned for, Astoria Part II: ‘Title to Be Determined’.