Fresh off the release of their 2016 Beer Camp 12-pack, Sierra Nevada is at it again with their High Altitude Mix Pack 4-pack sampler. Let’s be clear when we say 4-pack sampler, these are four 24-ounce bottles, and they’re four pretty big beers at that. Here’s how Sierra Nevada describes them on the box:
Some folks prefer to play it safe when it comes to beer flavor, but this pack is not for the meek. Fortune favors the bold, and inside this box lie four of the biggest and most intense beers we have ever brewed. We test the extremes of beer flavor-aggressive hops, roasted malts, barrel-aged flavors, and aromatic peppers-for an unmatched beer experience.
To back that up, Sierra Nevada packs these four beers in the box:
· Sierra Nevada Dunkelweizen Bock
· Sierra Nevada Barrel-Aged Bigfoot
· Sierra Nevada Six Rights IPA
· Sierra Nevada Chocolate Chili Stout
The Bigfoot beer is the only one I had before, and it was wonderful, so as you can imagine this sampler went right into my cart when I spied it at Costco. The first one I popped was the Sierra Nevada Dunkelweizen Bock, because I love that beer and I love German beer overall.
From the bottle label:
Dunkelweizen Bock is the surly older brother of a hefeweizen-dark and hardy, but with the intense fruity flavors and hazy body of its beer-style sibling. Our dark wheat beer has layers of alluring malt flavor with notes of dark fruit, molasses, clove and freshly baked banana bread.
Sierra Nevada Dunkelweizen Bock has an alcohol content of 7.2% by volume and mine was bottled on March 30th 2016. I paid $29.99 for the 4-pack sampler, or $7.50 per bottle, not bad at all for beers of this caliber. This isn't the first weizenbock Sierra Nevada has done; in 2011 they released Sierra Nevada Best of Beer Camp 37: Weizenbock.
I lay my bottle on its side just prior to drinking to rouse the yeast. When I pourted, the liquid was very murky and viscous when it came out of the bottle. How did it taste?
OK do this. Go get a nice ripe banana, one you can smell nicely through the peels. Take that sucker and peel it, then roll it through a plate of cloves until it's thickly coated. Dip it in milk chocolate and let that form a shell. Now pour on some molasses, and roll in crushed water crackers. Take a bite and that's kind of like what this tastes like, except with booze.
Now for tasting notes in my traditional format:
Sierra Nevada Dunkelweizen Bock pours to a dark murky brown with a thick viscous texture as it comes out of the bottle with an unbelievably heady nose of clove banana and chocolate, all in your face. Taking a sip, the beer is thick and full in body and loaded with spicy clove and fruity banana, tart wheat, chocolate chip cookies, toasted nuts, dark fruit, milk chocolate, molasses, and a long tart finish warmed with alcohol.
As you can see this is a very complex beer and a very, very good example of the style. Sierra Nevada has become quite proficient in brewing German beer styles, last fall with the phenomenal Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest with Brauhaus Riegele and now with this sheer delight and spot on example of a weizenbock.
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
(G)=Growler