Beer Me: Sierra Nevada Hoptimum

Style:  Imperial IPA

Brewer:  Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA

ABV:  10.4%

Purchased:  BevMo ($10, 4 pack/12 oz. bottles)

Pours a deep gold.  Smells like a pine forest.  Extreme hop flavor (duh).  They use their own proprietary hops for this beer.  However, it does have enough malt backbone to give it some footing and keep it from tasting like pure liquid hops (although it does come close).

For a beer that packs such a punch, it’s quite light on its feet.  Medium body, smooth on the palate, very easy drinking for a Double IPA.  Very well balanced.

Overall, this is a hophead’s delight (I warned you), and another high-quality beverage from Sierra Nevada.  It still astounds me how they keep the quality so high given their production.  This is a limited production beer, so pick it up now!