Bell Rates... Tesco Finest American Double IPA

type: IPA
origin: Scotland
ABV: 9.2%
location: house
served: 330ml bottle to glass


This beer, it turns out, is actually Brewdog's 'Hardcore IPA' relabelled and sold slightly cheaper in Tesco.

The bottle was gifted to me by my manager at work (cheers Michael) to sample and review. He's a big fan of Brewdog, and craft beers in general. I'll admit that while I have a lot of respect for what the guys at Brewdog have accomplished, I'm not a huge fan of all of their beers. Some are excellent, but some i don't really care for.

I can't really decide if American Double IPA/Hardcore IPA is in the former or the latter category though. In many respects it's a fantastic beer, but it's not something that I found particularly easy to drink.

I've written before about the blandness of big commercial beers, but this goes a bit too far in the opposite direction in my opinion. There's barrel-loads of flavour, but it's a bit overpowering at times. The high alcohol content is very obvious, almost to the extent that it starts to taste like a spirit - or that somebody's spiked your drink with a shot of rum.

The colour is fantastic though.


Smell: bags of aroma, immediately evident as soon as you take the cap off. a bit of a floral note, but mainly orangey citrus, and a hint of wood. 4/4

Colour: a great looking beer, with a warm mahogany red hue and a nice frothy head which lasts well. 4/4

Taste: No shortage of flavour! Plenty of hops and plenty of maltiness, with a little bit of sweetness - I got the feeling Belgian-style candi sugar might be part of the recipe, but that's just a guess. The strong alcohol taste doesn't really do it for me though.  3/4

Overall: A technically impressive beer with just a minor flaw caused by trying too hard to make stronger beers than anyone else for the sake of it. They could easily have made it slightly less strong without losing the flavour, and for me that would have made it just about perfect. 11/12

Bell Rates... Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

type: Pale Ale

origin: California, USA

ABV: 5.6%

location: house

served: 350ml bottle to glass

In recent years American craft breweries have seen a growth in sales, and it has to be said that some of the most interesting and high-quality American beers are brewed in small batches by people who's focus is on quality, rather than on shareholders and Superbowl commercials.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is one of these craft breweries, and although they've expanded somewhat over the last 30 years, and their products are now sold all over the world, the beer is still brewed with the same ideals of quality.

It should be noted that this is an American Pale Ale, and thus differs somewhat from a British PA, due to the different hop varieties in use on the other side of the pond. My own feeling is that Sierra Nevada's effort isn't actually too far off a lager, possessed as it is of a rather sharp, almost acerbic taste, and while it's very hoppy, it's not overly bitter. The beer also has a complex range of fruity and flowery undertones and a herbal element that (after going through all the herbs in my spice rack one-by-one) i'd say wasn't far off thyme.

Smell: not very strong, and with only hints of the complex flavour coming through in the bouquet. A little bit of citrus.  2/4

Colour: an attractive rich amber.  3/4

Taste: complex, and very hoppy, but clean and not too bitter.  3/4

overall: an interesting beer - and while 'interesting' could be considered to be good or bad, this definitely sits on the side of 'good' interesting. A quality brew that proves that America can produce high-quality beer when they realise that good beer is a result of dedication and fine ingredients, and not a result of board meetings and advertising budgets.   8/12

more info: www.sierranevada.com