424. Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Our Brewers Reserve Grand Cru

Our Brewers Reserve Grand Cru is the last of the four beers produced by Sierra Nevada for their 30th Anniversary; we haven’t drank the Jack and Ken’s Barleywine yet, but don’t worry—it’s a-comin’. We’ve got the trifecta, now we’ve shooting for the quad-fecta. As the bottle notes, Grand Cru is 22% ale aged in bourbon barrels, and 78% ale. Added to the rest of the Sierra Nevada beers we’ve tried, this makes ten: 30th Anniversary Charlie, Fred, & Ken’s Imperial Helles Bock, Southern Hemisphere Harvest, Bigfoot, 30th Anniversary Fritz and Ken’s Ale, Kellerweis, Celebration, Torpedo Extra IPA, Anniversary Ale 2009 and Harvest Wet Hop Ale 2008.

Grand Cru pours a hazy copperish orange with a creamy, long lasting tan head. The nose is rich caramel and dry biscuit malt that is both creamy and lightly tannic/oaky, with some hoppiness accompanying the aromas across the profile—although nothing that specifically stands out. Flavors start surprisingly restrained and light, there are dry, cracker-y malt flavors before a shift to caramel; the middle has bitterness, but with not much in the way of distinct hop flavor, although there is a touch of both pine and resin. Both Elli and I expected this to be hoppier. The finish is creamy and bitter, with the bitterness outlasting the creaminess and creating a nice drying tackiness on the back of the tongue and throat. Grand Cru has a bright but rounded carbonation—it starts off brisk, but then rolls smooth without as much of a bite as one might initially expect. There is a fair amount of creaminess to the body and mouthfeel as well; the medium to heavy body is lightened by the bitterness and the carbonation. While there might be a slight amount of alcohol warmth, the bitterness masks it almost completely, and it drinks much smoother and easier than a 9.2% ABV beer. Much smoother. As well, Grand Cru is not really what we expected—the three beers combined in this one are certainly all vintage Sierra Nevada, but the combination creates something distinctly different than Sierra Nevada’s normal modus operandi. And that, we think, says something important about Sierra Nevada. Marking this as their Grand Cru gives me hope about beer, brewing, and, more importantly, Sierra Nevada. Here’s to 30 more, my man.

From the bottle: “Brewers Reserve is a special ale highlighting our pioneering history and the innovative spirit that has carried us through all these years. It is a marriage of our three most acclaimed ales: Oak-aged Bigfoot, Celebration Ale, and fresh Pale Ale blended together and generously dry-hopped. Come join us in celebrating thirty years with this most special brew. Drink it now, or save it for a future anniversary of your own.”

ABV: 9.2%

Oh, and I drank it out of the glass I poured it into. So suck it.

(11/10/10)

311. Schafly Grand Cru

My day started with a trip to Brewtensils to see Larry Bell (of Bell’s Brewery, dummy, and Elli had to work) speak, and also for some general chicanery, beer-nerd style. It’s just like when an author comes to town—all the kiddies come out in droves, except they come dragging beer paraphernalia, not old copies of books. Seriously. Mike Schwartz, owner of Brewtensils, interviewed him, and he entertained a couple of questions from the crowd (you can see the interview here). He told us about the trials and tribulations of starting a brewery before the craft beer explosion, and the joys of brewing beer in garbage cans. Awesome.

Our beer for the day was Schafly Grand Cru, another beer from Saint Louis Brewing Company and Schafly; this is the third beer we’ve had from them, including Biére de Garde and IPA.

Pure Beefcake...

Grand Cru pours a burnished gold with extremely pillow-y head; the nose carries with it Belgian yeast ester and some fruitiness—mainly, the pitted orange fruits, like peaches, apricots, and nectarines—along with some Belgian candy sweetness and a light touch of mustiness. Flavor starts with Belgian candy sweetness before moving into fruitiness in the middle, although not as much or as distinct as in the nose, although there is some apple juiciness. The finish has some drying feel to it, although there is still a good amount of sweetness. Grand Cru has a medium to heavy body; the carbonation is soft and creamy with a small bit of bite at the end, although it could use a bit more to help further dry the beer out. The mouthfeel is soft and creamy, although a bit sticky. A good beer, but they do need to dry the body out to better fit the Belgian/golden ale style—this one is still a bit much, although they do a nice job of hiding the alcohol—even when it got warm, the malt and candy sweetness were still to the front.

From the bottle: “Schafly Grand Cru continues our series of bottle-conditioned, Belgian-style ales. Three different traditional Belgian yeast strains contribute fruity and spicy aromas which give complexity to this deep golden ale. Medium body and effervescence create a light, dry impression, despite its gravity and smooth, sweet finish.”

From the Saint Louis Brewery website: “Fruity, spicy aromas and flavors contribute to the complexity of this golden-colored Belgian ale. Medium body and effervescence contribute to a light, dry impression, despite its strength and sweet, smooth finish.”

ABV: 9.0%

OG: 18.3° P

IBU: 20

And no, we didn’t coordinate a Bell's beer for the day of the Larry Bell interview. Color us lame. But I did give him a bottle of the Two-Hearted clone I made with yeast cultured out of his beer. So we’ll just hope it doesn’t offend or kill him—in that order.

(5/7/2010)