From the Beer Writer: Over the past couple of years, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has initiated a number of high-profile projects involving some of the country’s foremost craft breweries. Most notable in that mix was their Beer Camp Across America campaign, which saw Sierra Nevada, the country’s second-largest craft brewing interest, put on regional beer festivals throughout the U.S. Those fetes featured the dozen beers the company’s brew crew crafted with twelve of their favorite craft beer compatriots. At the time this occurred, I worked for Stone Brewing Co. and, as a brewery so similar in philosophy and hop-devotion as Sierra Nevada, it was a bit of a bummer when Stone was overlooked in favor of another local brewery. But if it weren’t for being left out then (and missing the cut on a second Beer Camp Across America undertaking this year), the current Beer of the Week, Stone & Sierra Nevada NxS IPA would not exist. That would have been a shame, because it’s a heck of a lot more involved and intriguing than what could have been brewed on the large scale necessary for the national distribution of the BCAA beers. NxS is a blend of two batches of West Coast India pale ale. One was brewed very recently and heavily dry-hopped, while the earlier batch was split and aged in two types of whiskey barrels—rye and bourbon barrels. The latter were infused with gin; something rather unique even in today’s envelope-pushing craft brewing climate. The result is an 8.5% alcohol-by-volume imperial IPA unlike any other with flavors ranging from citrus and tropical fruit to vanilla and gin-like botanicals. One-of-a-kind status achieved!
From the Brewer: “Since Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has been an inspiration for Stone, and me personally, for our entire brewing careers, we were thrilled to be asked to brew a beer with one of the most admired craft brewers in the world. When brainstorming this collaborative recipe, there was no doubt that we should brew a memorable IPA and we wanted to combine unique elements from each brewer. For Stone, that meant barrel-aging a portion of the beer at our barrel warehouse.”—Mitch Steele, Brewmaster, Stone Brewing Co.
From the Bottle: For many, California is the epicenter of brewing innovation, particularly where hoppy beers are concerned. While we appreciatively accept the credit we’ve earned in helping build such a reputation, we proudly point to our friends at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. for initiating interest in hop-forward beers long before us. We are both breweries that started off with hoppy pale ales and grew to become bi-coastal while sharing an obsession with hops and a devotion to going our own way, vocally advocating for craft beer and its enthusiasts. We are colleagues, craft compatriots and longtime mutual admirers. All of that is represented by this special-edition beer, which conveys the ultimate essence of collaboration with unique touches of inventiveness and creativity. Two batches of an IPA were brewed and bittered with Magnum hops before providing the backdrop for a three-way hop bursting involving Amarillo, Chinook and Cascade. The first batch, created months earlier, was split down the middle, with 50% being aged in gin-infused bourbon barrels and the remaining half finding its way into rye whiskey barrels. The aged beers were then blended with a new, fresh batch of IPA, which was generously dry-hopped to impart rich hop aromas to accompany the citrusy, piney, woody, herbaceous flavors of this multi-layered and truly one-of-a-kind collaboration between two truly one-of-a-kind brewing companies.
“Brewing with an iconic brewery like Sierra Nevada is a real thrill. They were my inspiration to become a brewer, and their approach has inspired Stone Brewing since day one.” Mitch Steele // Brewmaster, Stone Brewing Co.
“West Coast brewers have long pushed the boundaries of flavor, and we’ve had fun leading that charge next to other greats like Stone Brewing. This hop fusion captures our shared spirit of innovation.” Ken Grossman // Founder, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.