Beer Camp is back, and maybe, just maybe mind you, better than ever. Let’s look back at a little Beer Camp History, Sierra Nevada style. First off, let me tell you, you haven’t lived until you’ve gone to beer camp. I went to Oldenberg’s Beer Camp in Fort Mitchell, KY many moons ago (late 90s actually). And while that brewery (sadly) is now defunct, others have taken up the banner of beer camp. Sierra Nevada for one.

Oldenberg’s camp was all about drinking beer, experiencing beer, learning about beer, and enjoying beer. Sierra Nevada’s camp has all that going for it too, but with one important difference: you get to make beer, too. It’s also a bit tougher to get into. To attend Oldenberg Beer Camp, one plunked down one’s hard earned cash and got to Fort Mitchell (just outside Cincinnati). Money won’t buy your way into Sierra Nevada’s camp. Instead, you have to go the Beer Camp Website and make a case as to why you should be selected as a Beer Camper.

At least, that’s how Sierra Nevada Beer Camp began life. For a few years, including 2011 and 2012 Beer Camp followed the above model, with homebrewers coming up with the winning recipes. They might have released such a sampler in 2013 or none at all; I’m sure I don’t know. In 2014, however, the game changed with Beer Camp Across America, a 12-pack of Sierra Nevada brews made in conjunction with other brewers from, as the title suggests, across the land.

That 12-pack was a bit pricey at $25 and in many areas hard to find, but it consisted of 12 different beers in collaboration with 12-different brewers. That made it a bit easier to swallow, and the beers were wonderful, too. The following year, 2015, only saw a single Beer Camp six-pack of one particular beer, Hoppy Lager, but the Beer Camp Across America 12-pack returned in 2016.

Many beer geeks (this reviewer amongst them) were disgruntled by the fact that the price had gone up to $30 a 12-pack, while selection had dwindled to two bottles each of six-different collaborations. Sierra Nevada seems to have taken notice, and for 2017 gave us….

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across the World.

From the 12-pack sampler pack box:

Join Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and a crew of 12 on an epic exploration of international craft beer. In your hands is a treasure of rare styles-each a unique combination of energy, passion, and purpose from the world brewing community. Continue your adventure during the 2017 summer beer camp tour. The largest celebration of craft beer.

The fifth beer I popped from this sampler (I'm almost halfway through!) was Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Dry Hopped Barleywine Style Ale, brewed in conjunction with Colorado's Avery brewing. How exciting for these two barleywine behemoths to be making one together! I'll let them tell you more about it.

From the label:

Colorado's Avery Brewing Co. and Sierra Nevada both make American-style barleywine ales verging on the hop extreme. For this collaboration-dubbed "Big Hog" as an homage to the two beers that inspired it- we recreated both barleywine recipes and then blended the beers into a new hop-heavy creation. It features rich, bittersweet malt character with notes of caramel and toffee balanced against a massive wall of hop flavor and is bottle conditioned for longevity.  

Ingredients from the website:

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Dry Hopped Barleywine Style Ale with Avery Brewing has an alcohol content of 9.4% by volume with 90 IBUs. Obviously, this is a blend of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine and Avery Hog Heaven. Like most of the Beer Camp brews, this is a once only concoction, but the good news is you can simulate it by mixing the two component beers yourself. I paid $24.99 for the 12-pack this year, back down from last year’s high. It really isn’t a bad price when you think of this sampler as 12 singles. My bottle of Dry Hopped Barleywine was packaged on 4/12/17, most likely in Mills River, NC.

By the way, while the Beer Camp 12-packs have at times been scarce in years past, I saw a display of them in Kroger this year for $1 less than I paid at Total Wine.

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across the World Dry Hopped Barleywine Style Ale pours to a dark ruby color with a thick creamy head of foam and a rich caramel malt nose laced with peppery hops. Taking a sip, the beer is hugely malty up front with caramel and fresh bread notes. It’s quite fruity and more like the Bigfoot than the Hog Heaven I think, though I’m relying on tasting notes for the Hog Heaven to compare. A huge bitter hop character runs throughout, peppery as in the nose, with a permeating herbal hop aroma and a long lingering dry bitter finish. I would love to age this but best of the box so far!

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft



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