Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale

16. Nov, 2010 3 Comments

Fall is the best season for beer.  The leaves are changing, grains are being harvested, the weather is turning cold and you start to look for a fire, a wifey, and a robust ale.  Grains aren’t the only thing coming out of the fields though, hops are as well.  So, this is the one time of year you can find “fresh hop” or “wet hop” ales at their peak freshness.  Some breweries take hops right out of the field and into the tank.  So, it’s an exciting beer time if you’re a huge beer nerd like me.

After my cold bike ride home tonight, I arrived home with the smell of bread and the warm glow of the hearth all around.  I reached for a Sierra Nevada Tumbler, a Brown Ale dedicated to Autumn.

The Sierra Nevada Tumbler Brown Ale is the perfect Fall beer.  The color has autumn and ruby hues on a dark brown canvas.  Peering into the Ale is like watching the leaves blow in the Fall breeze; brown, red, brown like changing patterns that are never the same twice.   Let’s remember for a second that this is Sierra Nevada, a hop master that’s not afraid of the preemptive strike using a hop bomb.  As a result, this ale is not totally absent of hops as many nut browns are.   The predominant flavor is smooth well roasted malt.  Unlike other brown ales, the Tumbler has more walnut and cocoa undertones rather than peanut, caramel, or cashew.  You didn’t think Sierra Nevada would let you off without any hop presence did you?  They give you just enough bitterness to transform the nutty taste from cool cashew into sharp walnut that catches you in the back of the palate on your gums, but I’m not complaining.  The cocoa and caramel undertones are still there and add to the walnut to form a well rounded brown ale.  The complex malts and sharp walnut make this a perfect Fall beer.    So cozy up near a fire and toast to your last warm breeze the shortening day light and the coming frost.

Cheers!

Stats for the other beer nerds:

ABV = 5.5%

IBU = 37

Hops = Challenger, Yakima Goldings

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3 Responses to “Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale”

  1. cheeselover 16. Nov, 2010 at 1:55 am

    Hm… wonder how that beer ended up in your fridge…?
    Have to say I enjoyed it as well. Good choice!

  2. ken 16. Nov, 2010 at 4:51 pm

    If the current gig ever falters, you can easily author a novel or two.

  3. Keith 29. Nov, 2010 at 6:39 pm

    I’m trying some next weekend!