Beer of the Week: Sierra Nevada Flipside Red IPA

 

Sierra Nevada Flipside Red IPA

This weeks brew is from the well known craft brewer Sierra Nevada out of Chico, California. This one I discovered by chance as it was was half off due to be change of season clearance at my local beer store. I was not disappointed.  This is an West Coast Style IPA(India Pale Ale) not unlike their more well known Pale Ale. This however is an amber colored and maltier version of that. Has a tropical fruit with a citrus bite. It also has a nice crisp apple like character. It's refreshing yet still means business. It's a seasonal offering for late summer and early autumn. Worth a try. I gave it 4 out of 5 on RateBeer.com.

It's The Most Wonderful Time

Pilgrim's Ran Out of Beer in December 1620

The caption you don't see in history books.

 After a long and cold voyage across the North Atlantic they land at first on Cape Cod(where Provincetown is located now) before it became a famous tourist town and real estate prices went through the roof. They were not only low on patience(probably pissed at crew cause they landed way north of where suppose to be) they were also low on beer. It was also too late to get their money back. This may sound trivial today but it was an essential part of living in 1620. In those days water was often contaminated would make you sick which could be fatal. They were a couple of centuries ahead of common sanitary awareness. Everyone, even children drank it. After looking around they found a rock engraved with 1620(at least it is today) and thought this was a good place to be, along with the fresh water located nearby and former Wompanoag village. The rest is history.

Cape Cod Growler Refill

Lonely growler needing a refilling.

This weekend my girlfriend and I were going on a road trip to Cape Cod so I thought this would be a great time to visit the Cape Cod Beer Brewery in historic Hyannis, Massachusetts. I had a growler to refill that I had been waiting since summer. It had originally been filled with their IPA but I was unsure of what to go with this time.

Taps and tanks at Cape Cod Beer, where the magic happens!

 We had previously had visited Cape Cod Beer in the spring time and had the tour, which they do daily at 11:00am each day. It was kind of wet cold New England fall morning on the Cape. They are located in an industrial park close buy to the local malls. This has become one of my favorite places to visit in this touristy area.

I was undecided to what to get a refill of so we decided to go for their sampler deal which you can get 5 - 3oz  samples for $5. You get to keep the glasses. You can also get a pint for same price also. So between my girl and I we get to sample a lot. They had their sample bar located in the open work area so you can cozy up to a mini bar while in full view of the tanks where future brews are being made.

Here's a list of samples we tried this day:

• Berry Merry Christmas Ale
• Ten Year Pale Ale
• Harvest Ale
• Session IPA
• Kurt's Farmhouse Saison
• Oatmeal Stout
• Hoppy Holidays

Berry Merry hanging out with Hoppy Holidays.

The Oatmeal Stout, Hoppy Holidays and Session IPA were new releases the day before on 12/12/14. These were top on my list to try first. My girlfriend and I shared samples to we could try more of them. My favorites were the Hoppy Holidays,  Kurt's Farmhouse Saison, Merry Berry and the Oatmeal Stout. My other half really liked the Oatmeal Stout and the Merry Berry. 

After some chatting with other visitors and some more samples we walked away with a growler of the delicious Oatmeal Stout and 22oz bomber of Berry Merry. The Oatmeal Stout had the typical roasted coffee taste that had hint of sweetness in the finish. The Berry Merry Ale is a nice Amber Ale with nice touch of cranberry dry tartness that compliments the malty character nicely it perfectly. 

I can't wait open these back home. Cheers!

Craft Brew Races 2015

Post by Craft Brew Races.

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