Beer of the Week: Sierra Nevada Sidecar Orange IPA

Beer score: 7.7

Company: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

ABV: 6.8
IBU: 35

I'm not normally a big fan of the IPA (India Pale Ale), mainly because such beers often have for me a sourness or even skunkiness in the smell and even the taste, but I decided to give this brew a try since I'm a sucker for orange flavoring and because I've known the Sierra Nevada folks to put out some pretty good drinks. I wasn't disappointed.

This one is lacking the usual sourness I experience with IPAs, but it still has a strong bitterness that's reminiscent of orange peel. There is a citrus texture to the scent of this one, but to be honest, I couldn't taste it at all other than perhaps in the bitterness, so for those of you who don't care for citrus beers, you might want to try this one. However, others have told me they smelled and tasted a lot of orange here, so maybe it was just me or the lone bottle I tried was off a little. The bottle does say this drink was brewed with "orange peel," if that helps you any.

As for the pouring, there was barely any carbonation here, and the drink came out in a fine but strong yellow reminiscent of dark gold. I experienced very little foam, but then I poured slowly and had the glass tilted somewhat; I've heard others say this one foams up well, but that wasn't my experience for better or worse.

Can I recommend it? Yep, I can. I've yet to have a bad beer from Sierra Nevada. Sure, some of their beers aren't exactly to my taste, but that's not because they're bad beers but because I have my own likes and dislikes. I can honestly suggest giving any of the Sierra Nevada brews a try, and if you're into orange flavoring the way I am, you definitely want to try this particular one.