Sierra Nevada Big Little Thing – American Double / Imperial IPA at 9% ABV | 45 IBU (C$5.71 at Collective, 568 ml, packaged on 2-Dec-2020, acquired 15-Jan-2021, reviewed 19-Jan-2021)
Appearance: clear medium gold with one fat finger of rocky white head, excellent retention and moderate soapy lacing. (5/5) Aroma: bright citrus, tropical fruit, dank pine, biscuity malt. (9/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate-high bitter. (8/10) Palate: medium slightly slick body, moderate carbonation, off-dry building bitter warming finish. (4/5)
Probably one of the biggest brewers that I still consider “craft-y” and hasn’t made its way onto my boycott list. (Yes, I have an actual boycott list. Don’t you? You get on it by being owned by rapacious global corporate assholes, a supporter of that orange shit stain whose name I refuse to utter, or both.) Nothing little about this thing (that’s what she said last night!), packaged as it is as a full “real” pint, and right from the outset, upon cracking the can, it was clear this was gonna be a good one. Bright citrus and tropical fruit leads the way over a slightly old school starts-with-C dank. I keep expecting the malt to come across more old-fashioned sweet and caramel-like, but it remains fairly clean and biscuity throughout, letting the hops take centre stage. Particularly surprising is the restrained bitterness, and the alcohol is hidden very well indeed, resulting in a surprisingly easy to drink behemoth. I could easily have this for a go-to. (17/20)
8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
