Sierra Nevada

Why it matters

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is the single most influential beer of the American craft movement, and remains in production essentially unchanged.

Details

Reference beers

• Sierra Nevada Bigfoot9.6% ABV

  A vintage-dated American barley wine, released annually and explicitly intended to be cellared and compared across years.

• Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale6.8% ABV

  A fresh-hop winter IPA brewed annually since 1981, and one of the earliest American IPAs.

• Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing IPA6.7% ABV

  The hazy IPA that reached general distribution first, from the brewery whose pale ale defined the style it departs from.

• Sierra Nevada Pale Ale5.6% ABV

  The most influential beer of the American craft movement, and the one that made Cascade’s grapefruit character the sound of American hops.

• Sierra Nevada Torpedo7.2% ABV

  A widely available West Coast-leaning American IPA, resinous and firmly bitter, named for the dry-hopping vessel developed to make it.

BeerHQ carries only the products that anchor something. This is not the brewery’s full range.

Styles it is associated with

• American pale ale — The beer that defined American craft brewing: clean pale malt under bright citrus and pine hop character, balanced rather than extreme.
• American IPA — The defining modern craft beer: intense citrus, tropical and resinous hop aroma over a lean malt base, finishing firmly bitter.
• American barley wine — A strong malt-dense ale with assertive American hop bitterness and citrus-pine aroma alongside the caramel depth.

Traditions

• American craft brewing — The post-1980 American movement built on intense hop character, reinterpretation of European styles, and rapid categorical change.