Sierra Nevada - Best of Beer Camp #29 - DIPA

Sierra Nevada – Beer Camp #29 – Double IPA

Sierra Nevada’s Best of Beer Camp #29 is a Double IPA (8.5% ABV).  Double IPAs (India Pale Ales) are typically “bigger” than an IPA and usually have a slightly higher ABV, and a higher IBU.  Beer Advocate describes a Double IPA as, “Take an India Pale Ale and feed it steroids, ergo the term Double IPA. Although open to the same interpretation as its sister styles, you should expect something robust, malty, alcoholic and with a hop profile that might rip your tongue out. The Imperial usage comes from Russian Imperial stout, a style of strong stout originally brewed in England for the Russian Imperial Court of the late 1700s; though Double IPA is often the preferred name.  You can thank west coast American brewers for this somewhat reactionary style. "Thanks!"  #29 pours orangey gold with a large lacey head and has very good carbonation.  Aroma is citrus with floral notes and the prominent hop flavors I noticed were grassy and piney.  This is a hop forward beer and it could use a little more malt sweetness or a little less hop bitterness to strike a better balance.  This is not a bad beer, but I would select Hoptimum or Torpedo from Sierra Nevada over this one.  Hoptimum is actually an Imperial IPA and it is one of the best I have had this year.  Torpedo is an IPA.