Experimental Hop IPA
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

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From:
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
 
California, United States
Style:
American IPA
ABV:
6.7%
Score:
85
Avg:
3.79 | pDev: 8.97%
Reviews:
46
Ratings:
115
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jan 22, 2019
Added:
Jan 27, 2018
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  22
Heavy hops, light haziness
The new style in IPAs is to highlight heavy hop aroma without intense bitterness, and this lightly hazy IPA does just that. It features the native-grown FZMR2 hop varietal, known for its mango-forward flavors, as well as HBC598, 438, and NeoMexicanus. The result is a danky, juicy, citrusy IPA with big flavor and aroma and low bitterness.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Mandpasbury:
Photo of Mandpasbury
Reviewed by Mandpasbury from North Carolina

4.1/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a great orange color with a touch of haze to it. Nice, dense one finger amount of dense foam that dissipated a bit quicker than I thought it would given the density. It has a bread-heavy aroma, that mixes well with the other bits of fruit and grains that are also present, that I like. It has a nice hoppy flavor, not quite Torpedo or anything like that, but better than a lot of IPA’s out there today. The beer sits a bit heavy on the palate and that probably is due to the low amount of carbonation that is present. Overall, another fine offering from Sierra Nevada. Not as enjoyable as their Pale Ale (but hey, not many are as enjoyable as that) but I will certainly have this again!
Jul 17, 2018
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 5 by Kwright from North Carolina

Jan 22, 2019
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Reviewed by StJamesGate from New York

4.06/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
CAN
Waxy lemon rind, grass, and coconut; thread of caramel, big orange rind, some resin, a rustic weedy thing, touch of mango, and dank, peppery ending. Scratchy bitter linger. Oily.

4 4.25 4 4 4

FZMR2 hop varietal, known for its mango-forward flavors, as well as HBC598, 438, and NeoMexicanus

FZMR2 is peppery melon (high 4MMP; think Citra’s green tea, Chardonnay + grapefruit); HBC 438 is now Sabro, the usual tropical plus coconut, cedar, + lemongrass (it was the twist in Timequake) HBC 598 is not on the radar anywhere. So much for the tasting pointers. In the event this is very Neo-Mex, rougher + less refinement than the usual SN (in a good way), with just a slick apricot skin or coconut meat viscosity to hint at anything. Good, if not as interesting as promised.
Sep 24, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by jtnord from Colorado

Sep 11, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by DerwinWentworth from Utah

Jul 31, 2018
 
Rated: 3.65 by bpkrippner from Missouri

Jul 21, 2018
Photo of monkist
Reviewed by monkist from Hungary

4.49/5  rDev +18.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
This is the first IPA I had from Sierra's Experimental box. I was a bit taken aback by the averageness of the Session IPA first but the comfort I felt when opening this can was enormous. That Sierra indeed is a master brewery and cannot go wrong.
Because this IPA is just magnificent. Citrus, but rather pine and slightly earthy hops prevail and it is an IPA that is fruity like a lemonade and has that remarkable resinous quality to it. Sierra choose these new hops very well, and you feel that it is a novelty somehow, beyond the familiar IPA qualities you feel something new. Something exciting. And it's perfectly balanced, with Sierra's mastery - it is truly really good.
Snd the best thing is that I can try it another two times and discover it's subtleties, from the Experimental box.
Jul 20, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by InfernoBoss from California

Jul 19, 2018
 
Rated: 3.69 by Mojo from Alabama

Jul 18, 2018
Photo of Darkmagus82
Reviewed by Darkmagus82 from Texas

3.55/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Appearance - The beer pours a hazy orange color with a one finger head of moderately thick foam. The head has a decent level of retention, fading over about 5 minutes to leave a light level of spiderweb lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell- The aroma is heaviest of a bready and slightly tropical fruit smell with the tropical being mostly of tangerine, pineapple, and papaya. Along with these aromas comes some lighter smells of a dank hop nature with some herb and grass.

Taste - The taste begins with a more malty flavor with a decent showing of bread. Mixed with these tastes are some caramel flavors as well as a light fruity taste of tangerine and pineapple, which were also detected in the nose. The sweeter flavors were lighter overall and were matched right from the start with some citrus hop as well as a decent showing of some dank hop flavors of pine, grass, and herb. As the taste advances the readiness and the dank hop increase all while the sweeter flavors dwindle, leaving one with a more malty and dank hop taste to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel - The body of the brew is slightly more chewy and the carbonation level is a bit low. The chewy body was good for the dank hop and the thicker malt taste, but oddly, the lower carbonation, which normally I would like for a brew like this, didn't really cut it. I think a little higher carbonation would have accentuated the nice fruit and sweeter flavors better and balanced the brew a bit more.

Overall - A fun brew to try. Nothing to rave about or to replace torpedo or the pale, but a good and tasty brew overall.
Jul 07, 2018
 
Rated: 3.78 by jak from North Carolina

Jul 03, 2018
 
Rated: 3.67 by PaulSlazinger from Pennsylvania

Jul 02, 2018
Photo of IronLover
Reviewed by IronLover from Pennsylvania

4.14/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Orange in color with an opaque, unfiltered appearance. Poured with a moderate, bright white, soapy white foam with moderate retention. Fresh, mellow, minty, earthy, woody hop aromas. Medium malt aromas. Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Light creamy feel up front followed by a light warm feel to the end. Mellow melon and fleshy tropical fruit flavors with earthy, subdued minty hop flavors up front that have a dry feel. Medium malty backbone throughout. Mellow, medium high, minty and tangy bitterness through the middle. Fleshy, melon fruit sweetness and earthy bitterness on the back end. Finished with dark melon and mango flavors followed by mellow, earthy, spicy bitterness. There's a lot of unique hop character here: earthy, minty, spicy, mango....every sip seems to uncover a new experience. Thoroughly enjoyed this. Great malt backbone, hop character and balance with unique flavors.
Jun 28, 2018
 
Rated: 3.74 by Matuhg from Michigan

Jun 25, 2018
 
Rated: 3.92 by petewheeler from Maryland

Jun 10, 2018
Photo of chum_husk
Reviewed by chum_husk from Minnesota

2.64/5  rDev -30.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 1 | overall: 2
12oz can given to me by a friend. Thanks Mike Koskie!! (he'd appreciate the shout-out)

Smells good, looks good, but tastes off. The tropical and bitter notes all go metallic in the mouth. It doesn't do anything different than much better IPAs, actually tastes worse than many other more 'basic' brews i can just grab off the shelf

An experiment gone wrong
Jun 08, 2018
 
Rated: 3.44 by dcall384 from Indiana

Jun 01, 2018
Photo of hreb
Reviewed by hreb from Washington

3.43/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
12oz can packaged 011118. Poured into a pint glass it produces a ton of off white foam atop a cloudy yellow-to-orange mass. The experimental hop brews are going 4/4 on cloudiness. I'm not getting a ton of aroma -- I guess this beer is nearly 4 months old.

Flavor has some new hop flavors, as you'd hope. Green apple stands out to me, and orange pith. More bitter than fruity or juicy. Clean finish, moderate carbonation, well-controled alcohol content, along with a novel hop character keep this quite drinkable. Very good now, maybe it was great when it was fresher.
Jun 01, 2018
 
Rated: 4.14 by Pacioli1445 from South Dakota

May 31, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by DigitGrowler from Kentucky

May 23, 2018
Experimental Hop IPA from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 85 out of 100 with 115 ratings