Beer Camp: Tropical IPA (2016)
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

GuyFawkes from Illinois

3/5  rDev -24.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Bottled 1/4/16; drank 1/21/16 @ the Yarchives.

See-through bright orange appearance.

A rough pour yielded a nice white head; strong tree-rung lace.

Fresh ganja, pine & faint mango notes in the nose.

Medium mouthfeel.

Pine & skunky ganja flavors up front; faint mango notes on the finish.

Tropical my ass; this tasted like a wet hop ale. Not for me.

Nov 09, 2019

cyclonece09 from Wisconsin

3.74/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Beer poured into a pint glass from a bottle. Pours cloudy orange with a minuscule white head. Smells of citrus hops. Tastes of citrus and piney hops with a great grain profile. Beer is light bodied and very easy drinking, good carbonation. Overall, an above average beer.

Jan 28, 2017

Holderness from Massachusetts

3.38/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

This beer is trying to emulate Grapefruit Sculpin, but fails on several counts, the most notable being the much more bitter, rubbery flavor. Also not as pretty or intoxicating.

Jan 23, 2017

Jadjunk from Georgia

3.86/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

"Beer Camp is the perfect way for us to experiment with new flavor directions in beer. Each spring, we feature our favorite collaboration from camp. This year's selection blends intensely aromatic hop varietals to create an IPA filled with fruit aromas of mango and papaya." Brewed in the style of an American IPA, available in 12 oz. bottled 6 and 12 packs and on seasonal draft. One-off recreation of a Beer Camp entry from 2015.

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle to a tulip glass.

(Appearance) Pours a creamy foam head of a pastel white color over a mildly hazy golden amber body with lively carbonation and moderate pulpy sediment in tow. Retention is excellent and lacing is moderate and patchy. 4.5

(Smell) Tropical fruit notes and grassy tones with undertones of herbal and lemony hop characters with a moderate perceived bitterness. Malt profile is a simple clean pale with hints of pilsner cracker malts and a modest sweetness. Potency is moderate. 4

(Taste) Pilsner and pale malts with a mild sweetness is met with a moderately bitter blend of tropical fruit and grassy hop flavors with a moderate bitterness. The flavor is largely more grassy than tropical fruit, and the fruit notes are not as striking as in the aroma, with hints of tropical fruits. Very clean and overall enjoyable but not as enthusiastic of a hop profile as anticipated. Highly drinkable. 3.75

(Mouthfeel) Texture is slick, lightly residual, softly chewy, medium dry. Carbonation is moderate, generating a moderately frothy texture and a mildly crisp finish. Body is shy of medium for the style, short of medium overall. Balance is slightly hoppy bitter over sweet. Alcohol presence is light and there are no off characters. 3.75

(Overall) A nicely malted IPA with a bit less tropical fruit flavor than I had anticipated, kind of an IPA light, but what's here is still fully enjoyable. Highly drinkable IPA and I would not hesitate to seek this out should it come around again, makes for a nice session drinker. 3.75

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.'s
Beer Camp Tropical IPA
3.86/5.00

Aug 26, 2016

drmeto from Germany

4.18/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.25

L:
-pours a clear golden with a medium,frothy,white head
-low to medium carbonation visible
S:
-mango,passionfruit,papaya,orange,tangerines,honey,peach,jasmine
T:
-Follows the nose plus grass and fruit sugar
-finishes dry
-medium bitterniss for the style
F:
-medium carbonation
-light to medium body
O:
The Name says it all.
Great IPA

Aug 16, 2016

jr_redmon from Kentucky

3.12/5  rDev -21%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3.25

A bit cloudy when poured and not as bright as it may have been if it were opened sooner. It still smells very floral and you can tell it will be a bit dry when tasted. As I thought, it finishes dry, but not too dry. Definitely has some good hop notes to it. The bitter orange that it says that it is brewed with are very noticeable. I don't taste too much of the mango, but I wonder if that and the papaya flavors have diminished over time. Overall though, this is a delicious beer that I would enjoy during the hotter days. The carbonation and grapefruit like flavors make this beer one I will look forward to next season.

Jul 17, 2016

Ciocanelu from Romania

4.1/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Clear golden color with slightly off-white head. Aroma has indeed some tropical, fruity hops and a slightly dank note. Taste starts really juicy and fruity with nice apricot, grapefruit and orange. Finishes with medium bitterness which lingers with grapefruit flavor. Medium body and soft carbonation. This is a really nice surprise from Sierra Nevada. A well made, more modern take on an IPA.

Jul 12, 2016

Winzlow from Florida

4.61/5  rDev +16.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

What a great beer! Fruity - fragrant and flavorfull! I have not had any in about 2 months, but this was a go-to of mine when it was around. Yet another win for SN. They should make this one forever!

Jul 08, 2016

colts9016 from Idaho

3.45/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

A creamy one finger head that has good retention the color of the beer is a golden yellow color with a lot of carbonation. The clarity of the beer is clear.

A slight note of hops citrus, floral, toasted malt, and yeast

A rich hops notes with tropical notes of pineapple mango banana, toasty yeast, the hops are floral, perfume, and grassy.

The mouthfeel of the beer is carbonated slightly astringent with a crisp finish.

This is a decent IPA. I think the hops kinda get muddled with all the other flavors going on.

Jun 15, 2016

JohnnieB71 from New York

4.11/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

This is a nice available IPA that is a joy to have as a regular beer on a regular basis. It has the looks and feel of a nice IPA without an overbearing bitterness so this is an easy beer to introduce people to IPAs.Hopefully Sierra Nevada will put this into a yearly release.

Jun 08, 2016

heygeebee from Australia

4.02/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Top looking beer, orange gold, and nice dense white head.
Aromas is pine, mango, peach, stone fruit.
Taste is all stone fruit and mango, well balanced tho big hops to balance out and almost but not quite bite.
Mouthfeel is typical SN oily, moderate carbonation, medium to heavy weight.
Nice drop... Not necessarily as lifted as tropical name might suggest.

Jun 05, 2016

Rock_Glenn from New York

3.85/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75

Sweet sweet mango, and other fruit smells I didn't think existed. The smell and flavor are carefully crafted to create a very fine IPA. It's nothing special in a glass, head retention average, and drinks a bit thin with a harsh carbonation. I'd love to know the hop schedule, as it's fantastic, the rest....ok.

May 30, 2016

Spikester from Oregon

3.88/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Hazy golden orange with almost two fingers of white head. Retention and lacing are good.
Smell is tropical fruit pineapple orange grapefruit and plenty of bready malts.
Taste is similar with some pine oil bitterness in the after taste.
Mouthfeel is on the low side of medium and carbonation was fine. The finish is lightly bitter.
Overall not as bold flavored as I had expected. Nice beer though so don't pass it up if you can find it.

May 21, 2016

StoutHunter from Michigan

3.82/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

I picked up a bottle of Sierra Nevada's Tropical IPA for $1.69 at The Lager Mill. I'm in the mood for a for a nice IPA today and this one has peaked my interest, so lets see how it goes. 2016 Vintage. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a IPA glass.

A- The label looks nice, it's got a nice design to it and it's just a little eye catching. It poured a nice golden orange color that take more of a brighter golden orange color when held to held to the light with three fingers worth of fluffy and creamy slightly off white head that died down to a thick layer that stayed till the end and it left a good amount of patchy lacing behind. This is a very good looking beer, I have no complaints at all.

S- The aroma starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with the hops being the first to show up and they impart a nice mixture of fruity, floral, spice and light green hop aromas. Up next comes some doughy yeast which leads into the malts which impart some grainy, caramel malt, bread crust, bready and sweet malt like aromas. This beer has a pretty nice aroma, it's true to style and the hop profile is nice.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma and it starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the hops still being the first to show up and this time they are a little more fruity with the spicy hops being toned down. Up next comes some doughy yeast which leads into the malts which impart the same aspects that I got in the aroma. On the finish there's a lighter amount of medium bitterness with a 50/50 mixture of hoppy and malty flavors int the aftertaste. This is a pretty nice tasting beer, but I wish the hop flavors were a little bolder.

M- Fairly smooth, crisp, a little creamy, medium bodied with a slightly higher amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is good and it works well with this beer.

Overall I thought this was a pretty nice beer and I thought it was a nice example of an IPA, it had pretty much all the aspects that I look for in the style and the balance was there was, but I still wish the hops were cranked up a notch. This beer had nice drinkability, I could drink a couple, but that would be my limit. What I like the most about this beer is the appearance, it's a very good looking beer. What I like the least about this beer is that id didn't have just a little more bitterness and hop flavor. I might buy this beer again and I wouldn't turn one down. I would recommend giving it a try, but its not a must try. All in all Like liked this beer, but I didn't love it and I think with a little more work it could be a very nice IPA. It's not a favorite Sierra Nevada beer and it's above average for the style. Nice job guys, this is a solid IPA.

May 16, 2016

rapayn01 from Kentucky

4.15/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

I've had this twice now. It has nice hop, but is not fantastic. It would probably blend well with the New Belgium Citradelic beer -- a similar styled brew. SN's Torpedo IPA is superior imho, though I Liked this better the second time (paired with a burrito).

May 14, 2016

PerfecTool from Georgia

3.9/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Really nice ipa. Great nose and citrus taste. What makes it even better is that I can find it at my local grocery store. Another solid beer from Sierra Nevada.

May 12, 2016

Grindelvasdrum from Kentucky

4.5/5  rDev +13.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottle poured into glass stein.
A-Slightly cloudy orange amber hues, one finger head with aggressive pour but it hangs around nicely, decent lace retention.
S-Orange blossoms, floral, ever so faint malt background.
T-Bitter & sweet mixed to perfection, the bitter is grapefruit & the sweet is perfectly ripe mango & papaya. some earthy notes too, the bitter dominates but the blend endures wonderfully.

M-Very good carbonation & medium body, finishes crisp & clean.
O-I've loved this beer since I first tried it 5 months ago.

May 11, 2016

BWED from Colorado

4.01/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

12 oz. bottle poured into Spiegelau IPA glass.

A- Golden. Dense off-white head has great retention at one finger.

S- Tropical (how fitting). Papaya, pineapple, faint citrus. Huge hop nose drowns out any sense of malt.

T- Fruity. Pineapple, dry citrus. Very light malty toast background, but it's there.

M- Medium body. Bitterness is high, but doesn't linger. Finish is dry and crisp.

O- Really great aroma, and the flavor pulls through. Well-made.

May 06, 2016

Victory_Sabre1973 from Minnesota

3.95/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

This beer pours a light golden/amber color.
The head is thick and frothy.
The nose is some citrus, but almost a mango smell as well.
The taste has those more tropical fruit taste. Mango, and others. Some citrus. Some hop bite as well.

May 01, 2016

bbtkd from South Dakota

3.58/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Tropical IPA. I'm not generally a fan of IPA's, but I like tropical flavors so though I'd give this a try. Knowing this is an IPA I have to expect the bitterness. More of a tropical nose than taste, particularly when I first opened the bottle. Not too bad, though not a new favorite.

May 01, 2016

arizcards from North Carolina

4.05/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Picked up a single from TW Arrowhead in late January for $ 1.49. Packaged on 12-22-15.

Beer poured golden with a nice white head.

Nose is tropical, mango and peaches are there.

Taste is tropical and citrus , mango up front and grapefruit in the finish.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and lively.

Overall this is a nice beer, typical Sierra Nevada quality. Definitely worth a try.

Apr 29, 2016

JDazzle95 from California

3.99/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

This beer is nice experiment from Sierra Nevada. The tropical notes definitely add to the traditional hoppy flavor of Sierra Nevada. Don't get me wrong, this is a fine beer, with a nice aroma and good feel, but I find fruit notes to be a little too powerful and it feels like they clash with the hops.

Apr 27, 2016

Motleydrunk56 from California

3.98/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle poured into a stone glass.Smell is citrus.Orange,grapefruit,pine apple.Taste is orange& grapefruit.Overall I liked it.Another good beer from Sierra Nevada.

Apr 26, 2016

infinitebruner from Arkansas

3.93/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

March 25, 2015

12 oz. bottle, tulip

A – Orange to medium amber, with slight chill haze but mostly clear. Half-inch of pure white bubbles, with moderate retention. Uniform lacing on the glass as the foam recedes.

S – Grapefruit, pineapple, moderate dankness, a touch of peach. Some muskiness on the back end, papaya maybe, with a hint of nectarine. Malt mostly obscured by hops, some toasted crackers or light bread crust notable.

T – Mango is the first flavor, like biting into a fresh one. Pineapple, nectarine, and light peach all in the mix. A touch of bread crust malt, and then a moderate-high bitter finish. A lot of the flavors after the mango seem a bit subdued.

M – Light sweetness up front, but outflanked by hop bitterness through the middle and finish. Carbonation is moderate to moderate-high, body is medium, normal for a full-strength IPA. Finishes fairly dry.

O – This is a very good IPA that doesn’t necessarily stand out among very good IPAs. Would gladly drink again, but there are more unique entries out there.

Apr 25, 2016

Tonkotsuramen from Australia

4.15/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

Nice new hop combination. I like the complex tropical notes. I think though the hop hunter ipa still remains my favourite with its lightness and fresh piney hop flavour. Keep up the ipa experiments!

Apr 24, 2016