Beer Camp Across America: Alt Route
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California, United States 🇺🇸
Collab with: Victory Brewing CompanyAltbier Series Out of Production
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Score
6.82
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Brewers are notorious for refusing to take the easy path. Instead, we lead with our hearts and pursue our passions no matter how difficult the road ahead. Alt Route is a tribute to this stubborn spirit that drove us to dodge the status quo and found breweries. Together we chased the siren song of beer with this revamped take on an antique beer style.
Like us, Victory is one of the few brewers with an allegiance to whole-cone hops. They do extensive work with hop flavor, especially focusing on clever and delicious single-hop beers highlighting the same hop grown in different regions. They too share our roots in home brewing and never lost their passion for working with new beers and styles solely for the joy of making something new.
Alt Route is our take on the old school German Altbier style featuring an ale-lager hybrid yeast, which is top fermenting and fruity like an ale, but matured at cool temperatures for a clean, lager-like flavor. This deep amber beer has a slight emphasis on the richly layered, slightly sweet malt body with enough citrusy hop flavor and aroma to produce a balanced, dry finish.
Like us, Victory is one of the few brewers with an allegiance to whole-cone hops. They do extensive work with hop flavor, especially focusing on clever and delicious single-hop beers highlighting the same hop grown in different regions. They too share our roots in home brewing and never lost their passion for working with new beers and styles solely for the joy of making something new.
Alt Route is our take on the old school German Altbier style featuring an ale-lager hybrid yeast, which is top fermenting and fruity like an ale, but matured at cool temperatures for a clean, lager-like flavor. This deep amber beer has a slight emphasis on the richly layered, slightly sweet malt body with enough citrusy hop flavor and aroma to produce a balanced, dry finish.
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6.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle. Bronze beer with a dark cream head. Malt and light mineral aroma. Malt and light bready flavor with light mineral notes. Medium bodied. Malt and light caramel lingers with light mineral and light breadiness.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Dec 2014
at 18:03
7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bottle at home in CT - big thanks to drsandman for procuring. Pours mostly clear, deep amber with a creamy, light tan head. The nose holds toasted, grainy bread with suggestions of dried fruits. Light to medium sweet flavor with further toasty malts, mild earthy bitterness, some fruits, vague caramel, ripe orange and a bit of general citrus rind. Medium bodied with average carbonation. Nicely balanced on the finish with moderate sweetness, toasted bread and grass, some berries, earth. Nice beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Dec 2014
at 23:19
9.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 10
Texture 8
Overall 9.5
Bottle poured into a shaker. Pours a clear, light orangish brown with a half finger off white head. Aroma of fruity citrus hops and a hint of caramel. Taste is medium bitter. Follows aroma with the addition of some resinous pine throughout. Full bodied with a creamy texture. Lively carbonation and a super long finish. Great beer, I’m really diggin this one.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Dec 2014
at 21:32
7.3/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle: Poured a light brown with some orange tint, head is thin off white lacing. Light fruity hops and malt aroma. Taste is a rugged hops forward bite that mellows into sweet malt and dry leafiness.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Nov 2014
at 17:56
7.3/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Bottle courtesy of GT2. Pours dark reddish goldenish brown with a rather thin goldenish beige head that leaves a small trace on the glass while dissipating. Smell is malty and floral with dark bread, moist grass, St John’s wort, caraway, liquorice root, steeped grains and orange zest. Taste is tiny sweet, bitter, malty and floral with dark bread, caramel, toasted cereal, moist grass, peppery wood, liquorice root, minerals, black tea and orange zest. Mouthfeel is round, slightly astringent and medium bodied. Finish is bitter, malty and floral with dark bread, toasted cereal, caramel, moist grass, black tea, minerals, liquorice root and orange zest. Hoppy alt with a black tea focus. Not for everyone but I kinda like it. Nicely quaffable!
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Sep 2014
at 15:20
6.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
Box dated 6/19/14. Bottled dated 06/04/14.
This was poured into a stange.
The appearance was a slight hazy amber to bronzed brown color with a nice transparency about it. This has got to be one of the longest lasting heads I’ve ever seen in any altbier as it lasts for a good two and a half minutes. Once it does die out, the lacing is quite speckled and clung nicely around the glass.
The smell had a grassy sweet toasted caramel aroma.
The taste mainly copied that with a smooth semi-crisp light caramel aftertaste that led to a dry finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a decent sessionability about it. The carbonation sat just right for the altbier style and was good for me.
Overall, good altbier I’d have it again.
This was poured into a stange.
The appearance was a slight hazy amber to bronzed brown color with a nice transparency about it. This has got to be one of the longest lasting heads I’ve ever seen in any altbier as it lasts for a good two and a half minutes. Once it does die out, the lacing is quite speckled and clung nicely around the glass.
The smell had a grassy sweet toasted caramel aroma.
The taste mainly copied that with a smooth semi-crisp light caramel aftertaste that led to a dry finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a decent sessionability about it. The carbonation sat just right for the altbier style and was good for me.
Overall, good altbier I’d have it again.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Sep 2014
at 16:50
4.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 3.5
West comes to my part of town, heheh. Nice dark clear brown, looks like lighter rootbeer. Smell is fairly neutral. Taste is sharp dark bitter. Certainly leaves an impression on the buds. Yes, each gulp sends that home. Does have an old feel about it. Some co2. Bitter rock thing.
Tried
on 08 Sep 2014
at 13:41