Slogging through snow, ice and who knows what else, the intrepid delivery bloke made it to my front door yesterday, bearing a Big Box of Beer: the second instalment in the US 52 Week Beer Club saga from MyBreweryTap.com.

• Anchor Humming Ale – 5.9% ABV
• Anchor Christmas Ale 2010 – 5.5% ABV
• Odell Isolation Ale – 6.0% ABV
• Odell IPA – 7.0% ABV
• Sierra Nevada Porter – 5.6% ABV
• Sierra Nevada Celebration – 6.8% ABV

• Goose Island Harvest Ale – 5.7% ABV
• Mild Winter – 5.6% ABV
• Stone IPA – 6.9% ABV
• Levitation – 4.4% ABV
• Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin Ale – 5.0% ABV
• Brooklyn Winter Ale – 6.0% ABV
• Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter – % ABV

I’m happy to say that most of those are entirely new to me, with the honourable exceptions of Sierra Nevada Porter and old favourite Gonzo Imperial Porter, which is always welcome (and harder to get hold of these days, since Tesco stopped selling it a few months back).

I’m looking forward to sampling a few of those over the next couple of weeks. Mind you, I think I’ll stick the Anchor Christmas 2010 in the special cupboard and let that mature for a while. Twelve months or so should do it. Likewise the Sierra Nevada Celebration, I reckon.

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Location: Chico, California, USA
ABV: 5.9%
Version: 350ml bottle
Source: The Vineyard, Belfast

So this is Sierra Nevada’s Early Spring Beer for 2009. Not sure if there’s any significance to mentioning the year as there’s no mention on their site of any variation on the recipe from one year to the next. Perhaps it’s to account for variances in crop quality, effects of weather, etc. Or maybe it’s just to make it easier to tell if the beer is still drinkable several years down the line. Anyway, I dug out my notes for the 2008 version (made before this blog was started and one of the many old ones I never got round to posting here) to remind myself what the previous year’s offering was like for comparison.

ESB 2009 pours a clear copper colour and gives off a fruity, floral, slightly earthy, aroma. The taste is quite hoppy and fruity, but not really citrusy, with some peppery spiciness. I didn’t detect much malt and the alcohol adds some warmth. That warmth carries through with the hops to the end, but unfortunately everything fades too quickly on the short-lived finish. It’s not really a bad beer, just an okay one, and disappointing compared to last year’s offering (which I noted as being wonderfully refreshing with more balance to the malt and hops).

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Location: Chico, California, USA
ABV: 5.8%
Version: 12 fl oz bottle

Having recently covered the rather lacklustre Porter from Sierra Nevada I approached their Stout with a bit more trepidation than I would otherwise have done. However, one sip was all that was required to reassure me that I needn’t have been concerned.

This stout pours as it should; thick, very dark brown, almost black colour with a substantial frothy head, which soon thins down but retains a presence throughout. The aroma is surprisingly light, mainly laidback malty notes. That light maltiness follows through in the flavour, some bitter chocolate, a touch of coffee, and I’m sure there was a hint of liquorice hiding in the background. Some extra bitterness pushes in as the hop flavour develops but it’s all very well controlled and perfectly balanced. Then to round the whole taste experience off, there’s a gentle kick from the alcohol and a lovely lingering finish. Wonderful stuff indeed.

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Location: Chico, California, USA
ABV: 5.6%
Version: 12 fl oz bottle

I’ve had quite a few of the beers from this brewery, and they can usually be depended upon to provide a good example of decent American beer. However, I wouldn’t use this Porter to illustrate that point. It certainly looks and smells the part, with its rich dark colour and smooth malty aroma, but when it comes to the taste I found it a huge letdown. The first thing I noticed was too much fizz, more than I like in this type, followed by an overall imbalance in the flavours. The malt was there, but then the bitter quickly pushed in to unpleasantly take over proceedings, spoiling the fun. There could well be more subtle flavourings in there but to be honest I couldn’t get passed the disappointing start, and the taste didn’t improve as time went on. It does seem very popular though, so obviously appeals to plenty of other people, which just goes to show how subjective this whole tasting lark is.