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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Not-so-happy camper

Rick Bonino

UPDATE: Hop Hunter has arrived (at specialty stores like Huckleberry’s and Pilgrim’s, anyway) and it pretty much lives up to the hype. The distilled hop oils (from Cascade, Centennial and CTZ) provide intensely aromatic grapefruit and resin notes that all but overwhelm the relatively demure malt body, with oats adding some creaminess to an exceptionally easy-drinking, hugely hoppy but not particularly bitter beer. It may not be quite so organic-feeling as the true fresh-hops of fall, but this time of year, you're not going to do any better.   

 

There’s good news and bad news for fans of India pale ales in general, and Sierra Nevada in particular.

First, the good news: Sierra is releasing a new year-round IPA called Hop Hunter that’s being heralded as a step forward for the style.

Hop Hunter is brewed with small amounts of concentrated hop oil, steam-distilled from wet hops in the field, which the brewery says will provide the fragrant flavors of fall’s fresh-hop beers throughout the calendar.

You may have heard about Hop Hunter when Lagunitas sued Sierra – claiming the label graphics were too similar to its own flagship IPA – then backed off amid a wave of online ridicule (including fellow California big boy Stone’s snarky take on the situation).

And now the bad news: Sierra’s Ruthless Rye IPA, one of my perennial favorites, has been removed from the regular rotation.

The smooth, peppery Ruthless Rye made waves when it was introduced in 2012, winning a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival, but sales slumped after that. It’s now available only as one-quarter of the 4-Way IPA variety 12-pack (along with the black Blindfold, the new Golden and the standard Torpedo).

Taking its slot as the January-March “spring” seasonal is Beer Camp Hoppy Lager, described as a reimagining of the Sierra/Ballast Point Electric Ray India pale lager from last year’s Beer Camp Across America collaboration mixed pack.

While the malts are similar, the ABV/IBU numbers are completely different (7, 55 versus 8.5, 70) as is the hop bill, with a combination of Palisade, Citra, El Dorado and Equinox providing the fruity, tropical flavors popular in IPAs these days, along with some herbal, grassy notes. It’s not a bad beer, but it’s a far cry from the rye.

Also joining Sierra’s regular lineup is the sessionable Nooner Pilsner (5.2, 38). With its light but bready body and classic spicy/floral noble hop character, it’s a pleasant reminder of what pilsner once meant before the Bud/Miller/Coors crowd watered it down.

Now, if they could just toss a little rye in there …