Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

Original Review, 19FEB09:

This has been one beer that has been quite a lightning rod for folks it seems; folks jumping all over (and up and down) raving about it, or folks railing their disgust with equal parts passion and vitriol.

While I can't jump up and shout to sing the praises of this beer, I can't see me cursing Sierra Nevada for this beer, either. Rather, I admit that I'm just a bit bummed with it, is all.

When this was a Ltd Ed draught-only offering, it was a nice treat -- and, from what I understand, probably not the same recipe as this bottled version. I know it was a lot drier back then, that's for for sure.

But now that this is bottled-only and year-round, I can't consider this much less dry "Extra IPA" to be anything more than disappointing. This may sport some 70-something IBUs, but the hop profile does this beer no favors. This is way too sweet and almost cloying, especially as this warms. The hops are not carrying their share of the load here, so the "crazy strange flavor profile" certainly fits here. To a tee.

I held off on reviewing the first five bottles of this, in the hopes that my post-cold taste buds just weren't up to snuff. But my cold is long gone, and this final bottle? No more appealing than the first. In fact, the more I drink this, the less I like it. Really.

I'll other folks debate the nitty-gritty hows and whys this beer doesn't work. But in the here-and-now, this sixer was a hassle to drink, and never won me over. There's far worse out there, of course. But Sierra Nevada knows they can do better than this. `Nuff said.

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Re-Review, 28JUN09:

Much more appealing this time around. Doesn't seem nearly as cloying as when I had this in February. Or maybe it's becuase it's now Summer here in San Diego, and virtually anything cold and decent will hit the spot? Nah! :)

//TB