A few months ago (I can’t recall exactly when) I first learned of Sierra Nevada’s plans for their 2014 Beer Camp Sampler. This isn’t the first year, of course, that they’ve done a Beer Camp 12-pack, and I look forward to the variety of beers they deliver, each a special formulation by a homebrewer. At least that’s usually the case, anyway. For 2014, Sierra Nevada wanted to do something a little differently.

Hence, Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across America. This time around, the sampler would in fact offer 12 unique brews, each a collaboration with a highly regarded brewery. The beers would be brewed at Sierra Nevada’s two facilities: Chico, California, and Mills River, North Carolina. More than an eclectic gathering of special beers, this sampler shines through as a symbol of the collective spirit craft brewers hold, a spirit of respect and admiration for finely crafted beer that transcends the competitive drive.

The 12 beers in the sampler include (from the Sierra Nevada Website):

•Allagash Brewing Company, Portland, Maine -- Myron’s Walk Belgian-Style Pale Ale

•Asheville Brewers Alliance, Asheville, N.C. -- Tater Ridge Scottish Ale

•Ballast Point Brewing Company, San Diego, Calif. -- Electric Ray India Pale Lager

•Bell’s Brewery, Inc., Kalamazoo, Mich. -- Maillard’s Odyssey Imperial Dark Ale

•Cigar City Brewing, Tampa, Fla. -- Yonder Bock Tropical Maibock (CAN)

•Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles, Calif. -- Torpedo Pilsner Hoppy Pilsner

•New Glarus Brewing Company, New Glarus, Wis. -- There and Back English-Style Bitter

•Ninkasi Brewing Company, Eugene, Ore. -- Double Latte Coffee Milk Stout

•Oskar Blues Brewery, Longmont, Colo./Brevard, N.C. -- CANfusion Rye Bock (CAN)

•Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Rosa, Calif. -- Yvan the Great Belgian-Style Blonde

•3 Floyds Brewing Company, Munster, Ind. -- Chico King Pale Ale

•Victory Brewing Company, Downingtown, Pa. -- Alt Route Altbier

It’s the Yonder Bock that I’m drinking tonight, and more on that in a minute. First, though, I had to find the sampler, and I knew that wasn’t going to be an easy task. I e-mailed Sherlocks in Kennesaw about it, but didn’t get a response. Total Wine couldn’t tell me when it was coming in. I only found out when pictures started appearing in Honest Craft Beer Reviews, and then I made it a mission to get a 12-pack. Luckily, Sherlocks had just gotten them in, and I raced there in time to score (along with a bonus 13^th bomber of a Beer Camp West Coast Double IPA).

The price was not as welcome a surprise, however: $25 is steep indeed, and $5 more than I paid for last year’s Beer Camp 12-pack. That was overpriced as well in my book. Prices seem to vary across the country according to accounts in Honest Craft Beer Reviews, with prices as low as $17 and as high as $30 being reported. $25 seems to be the median price, and as much as I complain about price it’s important to note you are paying for 12 unique singles here, and that is a mitigating factor. Then too, these aren’t beers to pop in succession over a weekend, but to be savored over a series of nights one by one.

My advice: don’t let the high price keep you from this one.

OK, now to the Yonder Bock  that I’m drinking tonight. This is the ninth bottle (or can for that matter) that I’ve popped from the sampler, meaning I am now past the halfway point in my beer camping. The plan had been to drink them in order of strength, smallest to largest. But our own Tom Beer Whisperer Mulvihill teased me awhile back with the notions of sweet potato in beer in a brew that included them. Since Tater Ridge also used that tuber as an ingredient, it was the first to be popped. I'm now drinking them in order of alcohol content, and Yonder Bock is next on deck by that criteria.

Yonder Bock is a collaborative effort with Florida's Cigar City brewery. This is the second and last canned beer I've opened from the sampler.

From the label:

Brewed in collaboration with Cigar City in Tampa, FL, Yonder Bock is a Latin-inspired twist on a traditional Maibock. Cigar City finds inspiration in the Cuban roots of their hometown, which is a long way from our home base in Chico, but our friends down yonder in Florida sure can brew a great beer. Yonder Bock blends a silky malt body with bright, fruity hop aromas of guava, mango, and passion fruit from the use of Calypso, Azacca, and experimental 366 hops as a nod to Cigar City's tropical locale.

Ingredients from the website:

Yeast -Lager

Bittering Hops -Magnum, Experimental variety

Finishing Hops -Azacca, Calypso, Experimental variety

Malts -Vienna, Munich, Pilsner, Honey

Yonder Bock has an alcohol content of 7.7% by volume and 45 IBUs. My Yonder Bock was packaged on 6/04/14, I assume at the Mills River facility.

Sierra Nevada Cigar City Beer Camp Yonder Bock pours to a brilliant orange color with a thick head of chunky foam and a tropical citrus fruity nose that still allows a bit of caramel malt to sneak through. Taking a sip, I get a bit of chewy caramel malt underneath, and a nice bit too of the toasty German malts I’m looking for. I do get a lot of fruits, though, apricots mostly to my taste and perhaps pineapple and passion fruit too. The guava seems a stretch to say ther least.

The hops become a little herbal and much more bitter in the finish, and make this a very interesting brew. Not really what I would consider a maibock, but I don’t think that’s what they were aiming for here, not really. Both of the canned beers in this sampler have been bocks, but with the classic Sierra Nevada attention to hops, I think the malt is not the star, and the malt should always be the star in bock. I give this one 4 stars hedonistically, with a half star off for lack of stylistic resemblance.

Sierra Nevada will be doing festivals to celebrate its Beer Camp efforts, and you can read more about them here.

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



Home