Hopstar IPA - Beer Camp #17
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Rainy day, here come the old notes. Comes in copper. 1/2" white head. Good retention. Lace was uniform. Good job. Aroma was pine, earth, simcoe like? Magnum?

Taste nice bitterness, crisp caramel apples, at times even woody in a light way. It was good though, exactly what you really come to expect from Sierra Nevada around this time frame. Grapefruit bitterness comparisons. Enjoyable stuff, wouldn't know it was pushin' dat 7.5% weight if you didn't read it for yourself.

 

 

Had this at the Bistro dipa fest. Review from notes/scorecard, but inspired at this time by homebrewers in Reno releasing it as their own I guess 6 months later (who were in the fantasy beer camp).

Good yellow/amber/copper appearance to it, nice lace and carbonation. Aroma was funk and pine, taking a muted page from Mammoth's 395 dipa. A lot more caramel and toffee taste than expected in something called Hopstar. Smooth if you're into that, but was hoping for bitter and hoppy. Magnum hops? Ok. Would have prefered to swap the maltier wood flavors for more bitter, higher alpha acid hop feel. Will be interesting to see if its subsequent release is the same if they don't get to use SN's torpedo or facilities.

Had this on tap at Toronado for Beer Camp night during SF Beer week.
IPA made with Simcoe, Chinook, Amarillo and Magnum hops. 7.5% abv. Made by Beer Camp #17, including member from Toronado and City Beer Store. It is the first beer camp beer to ever be torpedoed, which is Sierra Nevada's proprietary dry hop method. It poured a golden yellow. It smelled of hops, citrus, grapefruit with a hint of caramel. It had a good bitterness to it, was very dry with pine, woods, grass and a hint of citrus flavors, minus grapefruit. Very drinkable.

A: Slightly amber in color with a really good level of carbonation despite coming out of a growler. there is a good amount of lace and pretty good head retention. Nice and clear with some carbonation that rushes up from the bottom of the glass

S: Very piney and bitter with some hint of citrus and caramel. While it smells good it is not super powerful smelling

T: Again heavy pine with hints of citrus but the caramel comes through much more prevalently than I am used to. I wish that more citrus came through. Also some yeasty tones are detectable

M: decent amount of body and there is some creaminess, but there is still some lightness

D: I am somewht let down with this one because i had very high hopes. The hops were not as prevelant as i was hoping and while good it lacks anyhting that makes it great

Thanks, sierranevadabill, for providing the the info on this fantasmic brew made with BeerCamp 17:

ABV: 7.5 %
Original Gravity: 18.6 ˚P
Final Gravity: 5.0 ˚P
Bitterness Units: 60 IBU
Color: Pale Amber
Bittering Hops: German Magnum & Amarillo
Finishing Hops: Simcoe & Chinook
Dry Hops: Amarillo, Simcoe & Chinook
Malts: Pale 2-row, Pilsner, Munich, Wheat, Caramel (C45) & Chocolate

01.20.10 at City Beer ... Superdanks, Craig!

A: caramel-y copper with big bubbles in the head, leaving thick lace

S: nice and musky, the quintessential IPA aroma

T: tastes lighter, friendlier, and crisper than it smells

M: nice level of carbonation, and refreshingly crisp

D: pretty good; I'd stay with it