Sierra Nevada Beer Camp #53 Floral IPA

The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is from Chico, California. This 5.9% ABV beer is part of their annual Best of Beer Camp series. Apparently people can submit videos and be chosen to attend beer camp, where the attendees learn about beer and choose the styles for that year's beer camp releases.

Begetting its name, this IPA uses whole cone hop flowers and then for good measure adds rose hips and petals. The beer pours a slightly hazy orange-copper-amber in color. There is a tall head of creamy off-white foam. The aroma is hoppy, floral, herbal, grassy, tangy, with citrus and, yes, the rose is evident in the aroma. The taste is lightly citrus, floral, discernible malt, with a very bitter finish. It feels fairly light in the mouth, although the malt and bitterness leave a heavier aftertaste than the initial mouthfeel would seem to make likely. This is a solid, basic and quite bitter IPA with some nice floral notes, but it is not a mind blower either.