Brew Brain Blog

For my first in a series of lager reviews, I present the Sierra Nevada Summerfest from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. of Chico, California:

This is the second beer from Sierra Nevada I’ve tasted for Brew Brain, and the first true traditional lager - a pilsner to be exact. As the name suggests, this is a seasonal brew from Sierra Nevada. Is it worth searching out before its time expires? Let’s see:

Appearance: No surprises here. The beer pours a nice crystal clear light golden color with a thin snow-white head that practically vanishes as quick as it forms.Smell: I caught faint floral hops scents, but the overriding smell was of spicy bread dough being baked far away. Interesting, and a bit more than I expected from a brew of this type.Taste: The taste was very light, crisp, clean - a little biscuit and some light malt sweetness poked its head through a much more dominant, but still understated spicy hops flavor that doesn’t linger long. A nice effort I’d say.

Mouth Feel: Nice body for the type. Good carbonation. It stays crisp and clean as long as I hold it. The finish is fairly dry and clean.

Overall: This is a very drinkable and enjoyable lager. As an ale lover, this is a tough category for me, but this one works. I don’t expect to be blown away by interesting, complex flavors very often with lagers, and I wasn’t here. However, there is enough flavor to keep my head in the game and it is not at all watery. I would expect this one to rank towards the top of my lager list when I close the books on the category. I would definitely serve this brew to a large group of invited guests with far-ranging beer tastes, and it could work with a wide range of foods. I think lager and pilsner drinkers should definitely hunt this one down.

Enjoy your beer,

Brew Brain

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