Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp 2014: Tater Ridge Scottish Ale (brewed with Asheville Brewers Alliance in Asheville, North Carolina)

Brewed By: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California 
Purchased: Single 12oz bottle from the 2014 Beer Camp bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2014 (PKG 06/04/14)
Style/ABV: Stottish Ale, 7.0%

Reported IBUs: 35

What is Beer Camp? It is Sierra Nevada's celebration of craft beer and the numerous breweries across America that make that craft beer. For 2014, Sierra Nevada collaborated with 12 different breweries to make 12 different beers. They also have a Beer Camp Across America Beer Festival, which will stop at seven different cities and feature many different breweries and beers.

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. For more info, check out their website.

The Tater Ridge Scottish Ale is a collaboration between Sierra Nevada and the Scottish folk from the Asheville Brewers Alliance. My bottle reads: "We're fortunate to call the passionate and talented folks in the Asheville Brewers Alliance our North Carolina neighbors. Tater Ridge is our nod to the area's Scottish Highland history, and we hope this ale accented by sweet potatoes will be the first of many collaborations to come."

There and Back English-Style Bitter

This one pours out a dark reddish-browh with two fingers of tan/caramel-tinted head. This is nearly opaque; you can't really see the carbonation. There is good head retention and lacing.

The aroma here is really deep, with big caramel, bready notes, spicy notes, brown sugar, and sweet fruits that start to emerge as this warms up. It doesn't smelly like your prototypical Scotch Ale, so immediately judging this by the aroma is a bit difficult to do.

The taste, however, is much more in line with what I was expecting with a Scottish Ale. There are twangy peated malts playing off big bready and caramel notes, with Twizzlers fruits. This is fruity and sweet, with some bready spice in the back. It's very elegant and nice.

This is full-bodied, but I don't get any of the 7.0%. This is all about those gentle caramel malts and that nice, fruity body. FYI: I don't get any potato in this. Palate depth is good; good complexity. Up front: bready malts, caramel sugars, Twizzlers sweetness; that rolls into deep malts, light peat, more fruity and bready notes; the back end has a twang of hops and finishes with lingerings sugars. Nice.

Rating: Above-Average (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this beer. Maybe even higher...hmm. I'll have to revisit this in a few days. This is easily one of my favorites from the Beer Camp 2014. This is really tightly executed, and also happens to be an interesting take on the Scottish Ale style. I'd buy this in a 6-pack in the late Fall or early Winter months to pair with football and hearty stews and desserts. This is the Autumn beer that I want...not another tired adjunct squash or pumpkin beer.

Random Thought: This is seriously some great beer. It makes up for the sort-of-boring Yvan and Chico.