Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

Brewed By: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California
Purchased: Single 12oz bottle from a six-pack, bought at Jewel-Osco in IL; 2012
Style/ABV: American IPA, 7.2%

 

It's been a little over a year or two since I last had Sierra Nevada's Torpedo Extra IPA. This beer represents Sierra Nevada's year-round India Pale Ale beer. Their Celebration Ale is also an IPA, but it is a Winter Seasonal. About Sierra Nevada:

Sierra Nevada are one of the big players in craft brewing, and one of the first craft breweries to arrive on the craft beer scene. If you check out their history page, you will see that founder Ken Grossman began his quest to build a brewery in 1976. In 1980, Ken Grossman and co-founder Paul Camusi brewed their first batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. According to Wikipedia, Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale is the second best selling craft beer behind Boston Lager. Sierra Nevada is the sixth largest brewing company in the United States as well, cranking out over 750,000 barrels in 2010.

What makes today's beer interesting (in my opinion) is the beer's name. This beer is labeled as an "Extra IPA." Sierra Nevada describes the beer as bold and assertive, with complex citrus, pine, and herbal characters. The beer is brewed using Sierra Nevada's "revolutionary" dry-hopping technique called the "Hop Torpedo." The beer uses Magnum (bitter), Crystal (spicy, flowery), and Citra (tropical fruits) hops, and clocks in at 7.2% ABV and packs 65 IBUs. Considering that this beer falls neatly into the American IPA style guidelines, it's probably safe to say that the "Extra" in this Extra IPA comes fro the brewery's unique dry-hopping method. So with that all said...let's put this in a glass and see what's up.

Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

I gave this beer a pretty aggressive pour, as I'm often inclined to do when pouring into my Duvel glass. The pour yielded 3-fingers of fluffy, foamy, thick, off-white/eggshell colored head. In low light the beer takes on a nice copper/orange color. When held to bright light, this is an orange/copper, transparent beer, with moderate carbonation in the form of mid-sized bubbles rising upwards. In bright light the head has an orange/copper tint. As the head fades, there is a ton of lacing on the glass.

Upon opening the bottle, I was greeted with some nice floral, tropical fruit hop notes. That's always a good sign. This beer has some sweeter tropical fruits on the nose, or it did. Now I'm pulling out some peppery orange and earthy/herbal hops. I'm getting orange, mango, pine, and some light caramel.

The taste is really good. Huge dry hoppiness dominates this beer, as you get bitter oranges, resiny citrus (grapefruit/orange), pine, and mango. There's also a huge herbal/spicy component to this beer, almost approaching a rye or pepper spice. There is some caramel and grain on the back end as well, with a slight shift towards malt balance towards the back end, followed by some woody hop dryness. 

This is - admittedly - a big beer at 7.2% ABV. It's fairly crisp thanks to the moderately high carbonation, but still has some denseness thanks to the slightly sticky/sweet/resiny hop profile. Still, I think it's really drinkable for what it is. I'd say this is a medium-full to full-bodied beer. Palate depth is great, and complexity is moderate to high. Up front is some citrus (now I'm getting some sweeter citrus), tangerines, mango; the middle rolls into some pine, resiny citrus, and herbal spice; the back end is lingering spice, woody dryness, and then dry hoppiness. There is some caramel/grain on the back. I'm also getting a bit of alcohol warming on the finish, which isn't that offbeat for a 7.2% ABV beer. 

Rating: Divine Brew

I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew rating on this beer. As far as value beers go, this is it. A 6-pack of this will run you like 9 bucks. 9 bucks! 9 bucks for a six-pack of 7.2% ABV beer. And not just 7.2% ABV beer, but delicious 7.2% ABV beer. The value alone pushes this beer up, in my opinion. And then there is the availability...this beer is available everywhere, no problem. This is an affordable, delicious, available beer. And it happens to be a really good execution of the style. It's a fulfilling drink, and delivers on those giant dry hop qualities. There's not much more to say...except maybe a disclaimer to hold off on this one if you're new to IPAs. This is definitely on the more "intense" side of an IPA. But if you're embracing your craft beer hobby, or looking for something with big, assertive flavors...look no further. Highly recommended.