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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7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle. Pours with a crystal clear copper-amber hued body and a resilient off-white head that leaves great lace. Aromas are toasty-malty, with moderate floral and toasty hop character, new-world noble varieties, herbal, mild dark fruit, oat-nut cereal, baked bread, warming malt without being sweet, clean fermentation. Flavors are toasted, almost a touch of smoke character forming, dark fruit, repressed esters, moderate herbal hop, alcohol forming, quite dry finish. Lower bodied, medium carbonation warming. Hard to get style done well. Lingering bitterness to combat the dry yet malty notes.
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Jul 2014
at 22:33
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Clear amber pour - nose is moderately estery, with rich malts that smell of dark breads, toffee, raisin - some notes of baked apple and nuts - fairly creamy texture - flavor of dark bread, raisin, tobacco, some earthy, almost dusty yeast character - finish is surprisingly bitter, but it works well - solid alt.
Tried
on 15 Jul 2014
at 20:25
7.8/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 10
Overall 7
Bottle. Pours clear reddish chestnut, medium creamy beige head that dissipates slowly and laces well. Aroma is nutty, caramel, grass, hay. Flavor follows, light nutty sweetness, grassy, a bit floral bitterness. Toasted caramel. Medium body. Quite tasty, actually.
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Jul 2014
at 16:05
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle @ Luxor Vegas hotel. Thanks to R@@@@ for grabbing me the 12 pack! Pours a dark amber appearance with a tan head. Nutty, herbal woody, hay aroma. Nice body and mouth feel. Fairly dry. Herbal, grassy flavor with some toasted nuts / pecans. Clean. Drinks pretty good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jul 2014
at 23:41
7.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
12 oz bottle from the variety pack. Aroma is grape bubblegum (odd!). Pours a clear deep copper penny hue with a one finger off-white head that falls after a minute or two; laces some. Taste is bittersweet with a lingering mostly bitter finish that plays off the sweetness; a little bready. Finely carbonated with a creamy mouthfeel. Yet another beer in this pack that seems well executed but a little boring (other than the weird aroma).
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jul 2014
at 21:58
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle from mix pack from Total Wine in Sacramento, CA. Pours clear dark cola with a creamy beige head. Aroma is light malt with some light floral hop. Med body at least. Flavor is slightly nutty darkish malt with some lingering bitter hops - but not much. Hops could be floral and earthy. Or something else. Enough hop for a decent bitter finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Jul 2014
at 17:47