Sierra Nevada's Anniversary Ale

Today's Post is from the Canadian Border and our good friend, Brother Jim:

I was in the grocery store yesterday, picking up some produce for an upcoming dinner party and lamenting the fact that Bellingham, WA, for all of it’s progressive nature, doesn’t have a store with a good craft brew selection. I picked up a sixer of Pike Kilt Lifter (a perfectly acceptable scotch ale), and something I hadn’t seen before: Sierra Nevada’s Anniversery Ale.

http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/anniversary.html

My wife was initially dubious about the beer, as she’s generally not fond of IPAs. I poured a bottle into a pint glass for myself. The ale was a nice hazy copper color, and put off a big lacy head. The initial smell was pine needles, though the cold I’ve been nursing deadened it a bit. The taste cut right through that cold, though. It had a good hop flavor without bashing your head in – the Anniversary Ale is definitely not a typical NW IPA; it has much more complexity than just hop Hop HOP! The prevailing taste was fresh orange peel, with an underlying hint of spicy cloves. Crisp and tasty – a good session beer.

My wife had a small taste of my beer, then a larger one, then I had to go pour another one for myself because she wouldn’t give it back. We decided it tasted like Christmas. It was light and drinkable, with hints of summer, yet all of the flavors of the winter holidays. Like us, the beer has one foot in summer, the other in winter. It’s a nice place to be.