[BEER REVIEW] A Stout from the Legendary Sierra Nevada Brewery 🍺

When hobby-brewers Ken Grossman and Paul Camusi started their little brewery in Chico, California, in 1979, their beer quickly became widely appreciated in the US, where beer at best was regarded as something to drink only to quench the thirst or as a "chaser". Sierra Nevada was really the beginning of a new phase in America's history of beer. They practically single handed started the microbrewery trend. But how do they fare in the steep competition today?

Now that there seems to be a microbrewery in every neighborhood in every city of California - and in most other states as well. When I was in my early 20s and started to view beer as something other than a way of getting drunk, Sierra Nevada was somewhat of a gateway to the world of craft beer. Nowadays, when I go back to some of the beers that I held very high, I find them to be a bit bland and pale compared with many other craft beers. The Bigfoot, Sierra Nevada's barley wine style ale, I still find to be excellent.

The beer I will be trying today is one of their newer creations (first released in 2012), an imperial stout named Narwhal. I think it's the first and only imperial stout of Sierra Nevada. This stout is brewed with Magnum and Challenger hops and has a malt base that includes chocolate, Carafa and Two Row Pale Malt. It's rather nice to see an old school stout that hasn't got any weird ingredients as chili and exclusive coffee varieties, but that just relies on the hops and malts.

Sierra Nevada Narwhal Imperial Stout

Origin: Chico, CA, USA

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

ABV: 10,2%

IBU (International bitterness units): 60

Style: Imperial Stout

350 ml bottle

Appearance: Jet-black with brown-red edges and a 2-3 fingers high, compact brown foam that sinks pretty fast and leaves residues on the surface.

Nose: Roasted and a quite solventy note of a marker pen. Burnt wood and bitter herbs at the front and higher and more vinous notes in the back. Once you get beneath the alcohol you get chocolate, burnt coffee and forest fruit jam.

Palate: Roasted / burnt coffee with some sweetness and hints of dark chocolate, salty licorice and dark dried fruits. There's also a generous portion of bitter herbs. The body is quite thin for an imperial stout, IMHO, but it's also quite smooth and oily and with a rather soft carbonation.

Finish: Slightly spicy and dry with plenty of cocoa.

Conclusion: It somewhat resembles Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. The main accent is on dark chocolate and licorice with a high and herbaceous bitterness and a pretty neat jammy and vinous berry flavor in the background. A bit too aggressive on the alcohol, and a bit thin to get a top score from me though. The chocolate, licorice and coffee is very nice however, and the sweetness of the palate takes off some of the alcohol. I definitely think that it will improve with a few years of bottle aging. I've been spoiled with some really excellent stouts this year, so the final score can't be higher than 3.4 (out of 5.) A nice "everyday stout", instead of the creamy luxury you expect from an imperial stout.

— SteemSwede