20th Street Green Hop Ale
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

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From:
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
 
California, United States
Style:
American Pale Ale
ABV:
Not listed
Score:
89
Avg:
4.07 | pDev: 5.65%
Reviews:
10
Ratings:
15
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Mar 06, 2015
Added:
Nov 25, 2004
Wants:
  3
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Nickls:
Photo of Nickls
Reviewed by Nickls from District of Columbia

4.2/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
(From notes)

A - Deep copper color, poured with a thin slightly off-white head

S - Floral hop aroma, but hops are not too assertive with some malt sweetness as well

T - Maltier than expected, but provides a great balance to the more hoppy nature of the brew. Dryish hop finish

M - Lack a bit of carbonation considering the style, but not unpleasant in any way

D - Very drinkable, and would come close to even describing this as very sessionable. Has a lot of great flavors while not packing you full.

Overall, would definitely recommend, but would not break the bank to seek this out.
Sep 21, 2008
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4 by 31Sam13 from New Hampshire

Mar 06, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by RBassSFHOPit2ME from California

Nov 11, 2014
 
Rated: 3.88 by estevan1024 from Indiana

Nov 04, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by ThomasG19 from California

Aug 17, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by mhaugo from California

Jan 16, 2012
Photo of pmarlowe
Reviewed by pmarlowe from Virginia

4.15/5  rDev +2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
20th Street Green Hop Ale - Citra (there were 4 or so single hop varieties). On tap at O'Brien's 2011 Wet Hop Ale Festival. Pint glass.

Pours pale golden with very dense head, one finger of foam, very good lacing and decent retention. Smell is bright tropical fruit (mango, pineapple?). Fresh floral taste and some juicy grapefruit, then some biscuity pale malt, with a mild/moderate finish. This has a distinct, lemony white wine flavor, like you'd get out of a Chardonnay. Very unusual! Medium carbonation which is a tad harse, and medium-light body. Overall, this is pretty drinkable with some good flavors, although not a stand out.
Oct 23, 2011
Photo of ManuelHerrera
Reviewed by ManuelHerrera from California

3.38/5  rDev -17%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Tried some of this on tap with some other rarities in the Sierra Nevada canon.

Poured with a modest head with a pale, straw-yellow color and decent lacing.

Smell tingles a bit with hop bitterness, but an unfortunate whiff of limp cabbage on the nose. Bizarre but true.

This beer hits you like a tart version of SN's pale, to the point where the tartness begins to detract as opposed to adding complexity. Very thin and dry finish, leaving plenty of room in the gut.

Overall this is a decent brew for a hot day that leaves plenty of room....for more beer.
Nov 17, 2010
Photo of plaid75
Reviewed by plaid75 from New York

4/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
On draft at The Blind Tiger.

Poured a medium copper hue with a one and a half finger foamy white head. There was good retention and lacing.

The smell featured a nutty cereal grain and a light floral hop.

The taste was malty and very nutty - akin to Grape Nuts cereal.

The mouthfeel was of average fullness for the style.

Overall a nice malty beer from SN. Certainly not what I expected.
Sep 10, 2008
Photo of Billolick
Reviewed by Billolick from New York

4.18/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Happy to find this rare (?) and retired (?) offering on tap and in great shape at the Blind Tiger in NYC. The bartender said, its brewed with hops from across the street from the brewery. This one poured light amber, clear, typical head, film and then extensive lacing. Resiny hop nose, smooth and pleasantly hoppy on the tongue. Hops medium for the style and mostly resinous in character. Some floral notes and bready malts. Thoroughly session able and easy quaffing. Just more quality brew from SN
Dec 26, 2007
Photo of miskatonic
Reviewed by miskatonic from Massachusetts

4.23/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Had this on tap at a special promotion in NYC - don't know why this is still listed as retired seeing as there was a representative on hand for the event who said that the brewery will continue to brew this beer annually, and everyone at this bar reported seeing it in at least one or two other locations throughout NYC (and that's a long way from Chico). Anyways this is a very nicely balanced pale ale, using organically grown hops that are apparently harvested from a plot of land mere feet from the Sierra Nevada Brewery and used in the brew while still wet. I like the idea of a brewery growing their own hops and brewing with them. The beer is a very rich copper in appearance, quite a bit darker than regular Sierra Pale Ale, but not quite as dark as Harvest. Mr. Sierra Rep says this is the same recipe as Sierra Pale, except for the hops of course. The nose is exceptional with lots of grapefruit and sweet and sour candy coming through. The taste is very, very well balanced, nice hop presence, malty sweetness all while remaining light and delicious. I definitely get the Sierra Pale flavors in this beer, with the tangy resinous flavor of wet hops coming through. The balance is amazing. I could drink a lot of this beer. The finish is very peppery sort of like the Sierra Harvest, but this beer is much softer up front than Harvest, certainly a much easier drinking beer, but I still rate Harvest above this beer for choice. All in all this is a wonderful selection from Sierra Nevada. I find that the brewery is consistently giving it's customers a wide range of high quality complex beers that haven't changed a bit in over 25 years. I know there are better stouts, porters, and IPA's to be had out there, but for a brewery that only produces one version of each style (save for their three excellent and consistent IPA's) I can think of few other breweries that doesn't produce a beer I don't love. Add this one to that list.
Nov 26, 2006
Photo of akahn
Reviewed by akahn from Massachusetts

4.15/5  rDev +2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Very red amber color. One huge sheet of lace! Aroma is super juicy, actually smells like grape juice! This is unusual but very nice. Juicy in the flavor too, well hopped, balanced. Like in the Harvest Ale, the hops make a certain earthy, leafy, yet fresh impression. Medium bodied beer, round and smooth. Tasty and drinkable, better than Harvest Ale, in my opinion.
Oct 30, 2006
Photo of rayjay
Reviewed by rayjay from Hawaii

4.23/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
On tap at the brewery. Impressive APA full of fresh bitter flowers. Fairly deep copper color, assertive head. Definately not quite IPA territory, but certainly a full flavored, bitter beer. The bitterness is nicely rounded around the edges. The deep color is decieving, because carmel malts do not cut through the mouth, they simply accent the mellow but ever-present hops. Definately worth a shot for all ale fans. Cheers!
Sep 27, 2006
Photo of flexabull
Reviewed by flexabull from California

4.12/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Tasted at the brewery. You can see the hop fields as you drive down 20th Street to the brewery. (I assume these are the hops that are used for the beer.) I know in the past Sierra shipped freshly picked hops from Washington to be used in Harvest Ale, this seems to be the concept here, but the hops don't have to travel quite so far.

This beer has that immediate hops/pine aroma. But the taste wasn't quite as strong as the smell, still dominated by the hops. This is a bit lighter, crisper, but still hoppy.

Good stuff.
Jul 30, 2006
Photo of TheLongBeachBum
Reviewed by TheLongBeachBum from California

4.47/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Presentation:-
Served on Draft at the O’Brien’s Wet Hop Festival, 11-20-04.
Sample #3 of 16.
Overall Mark (on the day) = 4.5.

Appearance:
Golden body with a decent and rather white head that I noted stayed around, even in the sample. Excellent conditioning with some streamers even.

Nose:
Very flowery on the hooter. Floral hops that had a slight sweetness in the background, almost perfumey at times. Estate Centennial and Cascade Hops (from SN own Hop Field allegedly?) are used for Aroma and boy do they really leap out of the glass at you.

Taste:
Supremely hoppy. Fresh hops invade the palate, this one actually tastes like the Wet Hops really coke through in the flavor department. Dried Hops are used for Bittering and they do seem to balance the Wet-Hops that are used for the flavoring exceptionally well. A double whammy of sorts!!

Mouthfeel:
Above average feel to the overall body I thought, more than enough to support the hops but not overwhelming. Smooth body with a sweetish dry finish that had a light perfume feel.

Drinkability:
Immensely drinkable, after I had tried the 16 samples on offer, I returned to this one for some more. Highly quaffable.

Overall:
Quite the rarity by all accounts, and out of the 16 beers on offer, this one was definitely one of my favorites. Kudos to Tom Nickel and Vinnie Cilurzo for managing to snaffle a keg of this brew, I’m not sure I want to know what they had to do to get it!!!
Nov 29, 2004
20th Street Green Hop Ale from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 15 ratings