Sierra Nevada 30th Grand Cru

[northernlad]

Imagine if you will a combination of Bigfoot, Celebration, and Pale Ale. 3 excellent examples of beer in one bottle? Sign me up!
Then imagine somebody punk'd the entire batch with Oak.
I'm going to start by saying there is is one snowballs chance in hell that someone along the line filled my $10 bottle with the worst beer they could think of, dropped a bunch of piss soaked oak chips on in it, then labeled it as an actual SN product.
If I concentrate hard enough to force my taste buds to ignore the offending oak, I can just make out something that at some time might have been drinkable but, even then, I am disappointed in what is left. Little or no aroma or taste from the hops, only the trademark SN bitterness.
*sigh*
Apparently a bunch of people on Beeradvocate think its great. I think they ought to try it sober.
Long story short: Oak does not belong in my beer; this offering, though it might really turn somebody on, offends me.
I thought the Stout was awesome.
Now, if I can only get my hands on the Imperial Helles...

 

[r2eng]

I have been underwhelmed with the series. I have had 3 of the 4 beers and wished I'd have spent the money elsewhere.

The last of the series, the Black Barleywine, sits in my 'fridge awaiting it's chance to redeem his 3 brothers.

 

[Revvy]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with this beer, but damn, if that's not one of the most well written, and funniest beer reviews I've ever read.

Thanks for the chcukle!!!

 

[northernlad]

Thanks Revvy. I was just venting because, for better or worse, I adore Sierra Nevada and this was so surpirsingly awful I was taken aback. My wife even told me to pour it out if it was that bad.
Fortunately I can concentrate on washing the taste out with Celebration which finally landed at my grocery.

 

[King MF Midas]

just bought one....i think i'm gonna stash it in my cellar till further notice. thanks for the heads up.

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

You must be really sensitive to oak, I don't really get much oakiness out of it. But overall I agree Grand Cru isn't that great, especially with the pricetag on it. Though the pint I had off tap in their Taproom tasted pretty damn good, there really seems to be a huge difference from Tap to Bottle, more so than normal. The Stout & Black Barleywine were both outstanding IMO.

 

[motobrewer]

i have the imperial helles in my fridge.

i'm scrambling to find the black barleywine. no luck here in mke.

 

[MikeRLynch]

I too thought the oak in the Grand Cru was pretty minimal, and I'm not a fan of overly oaked beers at all. In general I'd say that this beer is absolutely of the Sierra Nevada standard, well balanced, hoppy, and most of all, drinkable. I could have pint after pint of this beer and be a happy man. What I don't agree with is the pricetag. The beer that resulted from the blend is very good, but it's not really that markedly different from their other production beers, which I can get for much cheaper.

 

[skeeordye11]

I have the imperial stout and the black barleywine in the cellar. I still haven't even tried the bw that's in my fridge. I'm gonna pick up a couple of the grand cru, one for now and one to age. I have some lowered expectations now as I sometimes find oak to be a bit overwhelming but I bet it will be improved with some age on it. Thanks for the review.

 

[motobrewer]

there was a stout?!

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

there was a stout?!

Yeah the first one was an Imperial Stout. Very tasty, and ran out quickly, so you'd be hard pressed to find any.

 

[northernlad]

You must be really sensitive to oak, I don't really get much oakiness out of it.

Must be...
The first drink was horrible but it did mellow as it had a chance to breathe. I wish I could have been able to get past it to taste the blend which I was stoked for.

 

[King MF Midas]

yea the stout and the barley wine have been my fav. so far. i need to find another grand cru to try it fresh.

 

[motobrewer]

oh man, had the black barleywine on tap last night.

wow that's a good beer.

 

[King MF Midas]

after reading this review i had to drink a bottle....and i regret it. It smelled amazing but tasted funny as hell. very woody and not in a good way. honestly think it will get better with age but will loose the hoppy aroma.

 

[northernlad]

A most regretful I told you so.

 

[Shooter]

Imagine if you will a combination of Bigfoot, Celebration, and Pale Ale. 3 excellent examples of beer in one bottle? Sign me up!
Then imagine somebody punk'd the entire batch with Oak.
I'm going to start by saying there is is one snowballs chance in hell that someone along the line filled my $10 bottle with the worst beer they could think of, dropped a bunch of piss soaked oak chips on in it, then labeled it as an actual SN product.
If I concentrate hard enough to force my taste buds to ignore the offending oak, I can just make out something that at some time might have been drinkable but, even then, I am disappointed in what is left. Little or no aroma or taste from the hops, only the trademark SN bitterness.
*sigh*
Apparently a bunch of people on Beeradvocate think its great. I think they ought to try it sober.
Long story short: Oak does not belong in my beer; this offering, though it might really turn somebody on, offends me.
I thought the Stout was awesome.
Now, if I can only get my hands on the Imperial Helles...

Hmm, I have a bottle of the Helles in my closet, already drank one, and still see it the stout and the barleywine for sale at my local Beverages and More. However, I have yet to see the oak aged beer anywhere!!!

Apparently, I have to drive to Chico for that!!!!

 

[motobrewer]

i saw 6 bottles of the black barleywine at Ray's Wines in Milwaukee, i bought one.

$11 /each, I would have cleaned them out, but couldn't come up with an excuse as to why I spent $70 on beer the day before my wife's birthday...

 

[motobrewer]

so I went back there yesterday (6 days after posting the above) and they were cleaned out of black barleywine....

that was disappointing. they have a sh*t ton of imperial helles tho.

 

[beesy]

Hmm, I have a bottle of the Helles in my closet, already drank one, and still see it the stout and the barleywine for sale at my local Beverages and More. However, I have yet to see the oak aged beer anywhere!!!

Apparently, I have to drive to Chico for that!!!!

Nah, I was able to grab a bunch here in central Ohio - although they showed up mid-late November

IMHO, The Helles was a letdown, the oak aged was so-so, the black barleywine was above average and the stout was great. I've got 4 sets aging in the cellar so we'll see how time treats them over the next few years.

 

[beesy]

so I went back there yesterday (6 days after posting the above) and they were cleaned out of black barleywine....

that was disappointing. they have a sh*t ton of imperial helles tho.

the barleywine is one of the few you can go pick off the shelfs here. maybe a straggler of the oak aged left, but I've seen plenty of the barleywine locally still in at least three beer stores in the past week. i think the rest of ohio must be scared of any beer with -wine in the name as all barleywines seem to always go slow around here (which is good 4 me!!)

 

[jsberry]

I liked SN's grand cru. Would you age it (to bring out the Bigfoot) or drink early (for fresher hops)?