The mother of American pale ales
BY GEOFF GRIGGS
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If, like me, you're a fan of beers like Epic Pale Ale, Renaissance Discovery or Little Creatures Pale Ale, you may know they're all interpretations of the modern American pale-ale style.
What you may not realise is that these aromatic, deep-golden-coloured beers and many more like them owe their existence to one beer: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, from the good old US of A.
The benchmark of the American pale ale (APA) style is brewed by the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, a university town a few hours' drive to the north of San Francisco.
The brainchild of two home brewers, Ken Grossman and Paul Camusi, Sierra Nevada opened in 1981 with a brewhouse that consisted of an assortment of old vessels, mostly from the dairy industry.
Today Sierra Nevada operates a large modern brewery and employs more than 300 people. It is one of America's most successful craft breweries.
Grossman and Camusi developed the American pale-ale style specifically to showcase the West Coast's highly aromatic cascade hop variety.
Grown in the neighbouring states of Oregon and Washington and first released in 1972, the cascade hop was the result of crossing the English fuggle with a Russian variety called serebrianker.
Cascade's pungent, spicy, citrusy (grapefruit and lime) character is now regarded as the signature of the APA style and the variety is by far the most widely used in American craft brewing.
The really good news is that a range of Sierra Nevada beers, including the iconic Pale Ale, is now finding its way to New Zealand on a regular basis.
With its amber hue, floral bouquet, firm body and wonderful balance of sweet malt and zesty hops, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a truly delightful beer for everyday enjoyment and a perfect match for spicy Thai and Mexican cuisine.
A second beer, Torpedo IPA, is bigger in every aspect: malt, hops and alcohol (7.2 per cent). Heavily hopped with a cocktail of American varieties that includes magnum, crystal and citra (but not cascade), it's an intensely aromatic and flavoursome beer that will appeal to only the hardiest of hop lovers.
Herbal, piney and citrusy, but with enough sweet malt to temper some of its extreme bitterness (70BUs), it can stand up to the fieriest of Indian curries.
Having developed a liking for American IPAs and double IPAs while in California last year, I regularly find myself craving the huge hop hit of beers like this. Others must too; according to my spies, Torpedo IPA is the fastest-selling beer in the range.
Two dark brews, Sierra Nevada Porter and Stout, come with an equally strong recommendation, particularly to those who don't normally enjoy dark beers. Both are notably smooth, rounded and complex, but lacking any suggestion of harsh burnt astringency.
The porter has silky caramel and chocolate malt flavours and the stout is equally smooth, but a shade more roasty. Both beers finish with a delightful late spicy, citrusy flourish from those remarkable American hops. I consider them to be among the most approachable yet interesting dark beers I've ever tasted.
With its hazy golden colour and bubblegum and banana signature, Sierra Nevada Kellerweis is a fine unfiltered wheat beer in the Bavarian hefeweizen tradition. Tart and only mildly hopped, as is typical of the style, it offers some relief for those who don't appreciate the hop flavours and bitterness of the other beers.
The Sierra Nevada beers are available at Blenheim New World, FreshChoice Springlands and online at beerstore.co.nz and regionalwines.co.nz. Cheers!
Great news for those who enjoy "real ales" served from the cask in the traditional English manner. On Thursday, October 8, The Old Bank in Redwoodtown will be hosting Marlborough's first "handpump" evening.
The Cleghorn St bar is installing a traditional English beer engine especially for the night and will be hand-pulling the very "English-tasting" Cathcart's NTA (4.4 per cent) from the Townshend Brewery in Upper Moutere. Just one 22-litre cask will be available and it will be broached at 7pm sharp. My guess is it won't last long, so don't be late!
- The Marlborough Express
