Hoppy campers
Whatever the weather, Memorial Day weekend is a great time to do some camping – beer camping, that is.
Sierra Nevada’s latest Beer Camp Across America collaboration mix pack has arrived, featuring six beers developed by teams of brewers throughout the country (there’s two of each, for easy sharing around the campfire).
The lightest, and maybe most distinctive, is a Sweet Sunny South Table Beer (4.9 percent alcohol by volume, 23 International Bitterness Units) brewed with black tea, honeysuckle, saison yeast and a bowl full of fruit: peach, papaya, guava and prickly pear.
Very pale golden and effervescent, with a body lightened by corn grits in addition to wheat and barley malts, it has a complex fruit character with subtle tea notes dancing underneath.
The two other lower-octane offerings are both brewed with rye. West Latitude Session Rye with Hibiscus (a marginally sessionable 5.5, 55), from a group of Northern California and Hawaii brewers, gets its deep brown color from Vienna and Midnight Wheat malts, and a spicy, tangy flavor (with floral overtones) from the hibiscus, hops and rye.
Straw-golden, cider-spiked Pat-Rye-Ot Revolutionary Pale Ale (5.6, 39), the Northeast’s entry, seems more easy-drinking by comparison. It opens with a lightly sweet apple taste that quickly gives way to lingering, peppery rye mingled with old-school Cluster and brand-new experimental hops.
The star of the show around these parts is probably the whimsically named Moxee-Moron Imperial Session IPA (7.5, 70) from a Northwest team led by Yakima’s Bale Breaker along with regional hop heroes Barley Brown’s, Black Raven, Melvin and Odell.
As logic implies, session plus imperial equals a rather standard-strength IPA, and while this one doesn’t break any new ground it’s a fine example of the current state of the art. Crisp but a bit juicy and creamy, its fruity, spicy, piney hop notes lead up to a big, bitter finish.
In a similar vein, Southern California’s Stout of the Union Robust Stout (7.3, 64) does solid work within a straightforward style, with pronounced coffee and chocolate aroma and flavor over a roasty body smoothed by oats.
The theoretical heavy hitter of the bunch, the Midwestern-bred Family Values Imperial Brown Ale with Cocoa (8.5, 35), isn’t quite so big-bodied as those numbers might suggest but still slightly syrupy. A combination of wild rice, oats, cocoa nibs and honey provides a touch of sweet nuttiness over a somewhat charred, chocolaty, dark fruit foundation.
The prime habitat for tracking down these critters is Total Wine and Trader Joe's, plus Costco for discount 24-packs. Sierra’s beer locator lists several other potential locations around Spokane and North Idaho, but be sure to call first for availability.
And if you really feel like taking a hike, all these beers plus plenty more from 100-plus regional breweries will be pouring in Seattle on June 11 at one of six Beer Camp Across America festivals nationwide; tickets are $50 ($70 for early access, $35 for designated drivers).