Na Zdravi !: Fantastic Haze

Sunday, February 02, 2020

Fantastic Haze

Sierra Nevada Brewing (Chico, CA)
"We were in search of something fantastic. Something juicy, something hazy, something ripe with notes of mango, melon, and citrus. So we said, "Reason be damned," and filled our kettles with five hop varieties and loads of malt, oats, and wheat. Some may call that absurd. We call it absurdly fantastic."

Lots of tropicals here. I get pineapple and bitter citrus. Considering the way they loaded this thing I was expecting a much bigger presence in both alcohol and flavors. It is actually somewhat subdued and very drinkable. You could easily down two or three of these but at 9% I'll stick with just one a day.

ABV 9.0%, 40 IBU
Hops: Chinook, Azacca, Amarillo, Idaho 7, Strata
Malt: Two-row Pale, Oats, Wheat
Yeast: Ale Yeast

Na Zdravi!

A 10-second take.
Not really reviews, just my way to keep track of the beers I've tried.

My mother's family is Czech. They emigrated from Bohemia and settled in Nebraska in the mid-1800s.
They were from the region that included the town Pilzen (Pilsen) where a brewery called Měšťanský pivovar Plzeň, now Pilsner Urquell (Plzeňský Prazdroj in Czech), started brewing a uniquely Bohemian-style beer we now know as pilsner.
So, as I raise a glass in honor of my Bohemian roots ...

Na Zdravi! (to your health).

Hops?

A "hop" is the cone shaped resinous flower of the female hop plant. It is used in brewing to add bitterness, flavor, aroma, and stability depending on when it is added.

Hops are one of the 4 basic ingredients of beer although they are not esential in the brewing process. The are used simply to add flavor and complexity to the brew.
Double and even triple IPA's feature an extreme amount of hops, and an ABV to match.
Noble Hops - The traditional varieties of hops that were used to make early European beers. Medieval brewers used Hallertau, Saaz, Spalt, and/or Tettnang hops. All are from Germany except Saaz from the Czech Republic (Žatec in Czech). All are still used today.