From a stubby 35.5 cl bottle, my first from this craft brewery in Mammoth Lakes, California. Densely moussy, egg-white, lightly lacing head, retaining very well and staying closed for quite a while, though showing small gaps after a few minutes; clear, deep ’autumny’ reddish amber colour with darker bronze tinge, typical ’red IPA’ appearance, narrow strings of fizz here and there. Aroma is heavily dominated by juniper berries - I could smell them from inches distance even before I read on the label that this beer actually contains them - exhaling a very characteristic, ethereal spicy and piney odour, largely covering more subtle impressions of gingerbread, fresh sage leaves (much more so than the sharp, pungent spiciness of dried sage), warm biscuit, candied peach, dried orange rind, hard butterscotch candy, gin and tonic, toast, roasted paprika peel, dry cookies, old cheese, wormwood, olive oil. Rounded, clean fruitiness in the mouth, dried red berries, some orange peel and a vague hint of apricot, only subduedly sweetish with a dull, generic sourishness at its sides, medium carbonated with minerally notes here and there, slick and rather oily mouthfeel. Nutty and explicitly toasted malt core, only very vaguely sweetish at the start but quickly turning bitterish, the bitterness merging seamlessly with the hoppiness, which shows up even before the finish and coats the back of the mouth and the throat with a resinous, spicy, piney bitterness which is in turn reinforced by the wryness of the juniper berries and, eventually, an afterglow of warming, in this case genuinely gin-like alcohol, while retronasal piney hop aromas go hand in hand with the pineyness of the juniper berries; the ethereal, resiny, almost glueish spiciness of the latter goes on and on after swallowing. I have encountered juniper berries in many a recent Belgian ale trying to be modern and different - as well as in a few New World beers - and I just cannot seem to learn to appreciate them; to my personal taste, these things simply do not belong in beer, as they become overpowering and astringent at a very early stage. I get the idea of using them to accentuate a piney hop character, especially in a red IPA like this one, but to my taste this beer would have been a lot better off without them, applying an even more generous dose of hops (an IBU of 50, as stated on the label, is still a bit on the modest side for a 21st-century IPA). But that is mere personal preference of course: IPA can do just about anything these days, from a near-forgotten beer style which was not much more than an old name, it has become a world of its own now with all kinds of wondrous possibilities, and I guess IPA with spices is as good a choice as any other. Technically, this beer is more than correctly executed as well, there is no flaw or off-flavour in sight, the alcohol remains well hidden (though not completely) and the whole thing looks beautiful. Just not my beer - if only this had contained less of the juniper and more fragrant hops, this would have been a perfectly enjoyable West Coast (red) IPA to me. In this form, with less expressive hop fragrance than harsh juniper effects and being an 8% red ale, this is perhaps better characterized as an "American strong ale" rather than IPA of any substyle?

Bottle shared at the March THT at Kwartje. Clear yellow pour with a tall white head. Notes of saison yeast, perfumey flowers, citrus, coriander, light minerals.

Bottle shared at THT. Slight hazy golden with white head. Soap, coriander seed, milky grains, light spicy yeast, dough, light caramel. Medium sweet and light bitter. Medium bodied. Meh.

Sampled from bottle at THT March at Kwartje. Hazy golden with almost no head. Sweet malts, sugarcane, chicory, vegetal bitterness. Light sweet and moderate bitter. Under medium body. Soft carbonation. --- Beer merged from original tick of Wild Sierra Mountain Farmhouse Ale (2012) on 09 Jan 2018 at 12:19 - Score: 6

Bottle shared at THT. Clear golden with a white head. Aroma of peppery saison yeast, herbs, citrus, light malt. Flavour is light to moderate sweet and moderate bitter. Medium bodied with prickly carbonation.

Bottle. Pours clear reddish Amber, small Bible beige head, some lacing. Aroma is malty, alcohol, pine, nutty, caramel. Flavor is medium sweet, medium bitter, kinda harsh and biting. Medium body. At least it’s a rare style!

Bottle (from beergium). Pours clear red copper with beige head. Aroma is sweet, caramel, malt,citrus. Flavor is sweet and bitter, malt, caramel, fruits, herbs, Overall: ok.

Bottle from Craft Shack. Pours brown with a light tan head. Aroma of chocolate, dark fruits, and something suggesting sour - but hardly at all. Med body. Flavor starts moderately sour, moves to chocolate and dark fruit. It’s interesting. With time I’m appreciating it a bit. Tho it’s not dry, my mouth is puckering a little. Fruit begins to seem cherry. I think I like it. It’s just a bit off my usually beaten paths. Not sure I really "get" kettle sours. I’ll work on it.

Bottle at tads... Dark black.. Thin molasses.. Rich chocolate malts nose.... Dark heavy chocolate roast.. Light booz. Heavy caramel toffee