Sierra Nevada Estate Homegrown Wet Hop Ale

So I finally forked up the $14 for this bottle of Sierra Nevada Estate Ale.  I've been resisting it for a while to avoid the wallet molestation, but I was feeling chipper and decided to throw down for it last weekend. 

This Sierra Nevada brew comes in a wax-sealed bottle with a green, hop-themed label that depicts the estate where the barley and hops are grown in Chico, CA.  On the front of the label, it says "Taste fresh-from-the-field flavors with this handmade, homegrown, and completely natural ale.  Made with organic wet hops and barley grown at our brewery in Chico, this remarkable ale is the only one of it's kind."  This is Sierra Nevada's 6.7%ABV, home-made all-american IPA.  Now let's cut through this wax and have a drink.

Ok, here I am 5 minutes later, still trying to break through this wax seal.  They designed this bottle like a tank...I feel like a retarded monkey hitting a coconut with a rock.  After failing with a knife, I got creative and pulled out my pizza roller.  While yelling some unrepeatable obscenities, I rolled that through the wax, and was finally able to get to the cap and open this thing up.  I poured this into my ale glass, pours a beautiful clear, dark orange-amber color with a creamy white head.  This is a really nice-looking brew.

My first thought after the first sip is how fresh this beer tastes.  It's a refreshing blast of citrus, lemon, pineapple hoppyness, along with a resinous, grassy backdrop.  The malts bring a light caramel bready flavor, which balances really nicely with the hops.  This beer gets better with every sip.  It is perfectly carbonated, and medium bodied, and not at all filling. 

Overall Rating:  (5.2 out of 6.0)  This was a terrific American IPA.  It was a little pricey at $13 for the bottle, but certainly worth it.  If I could afford it, I would keep a whole fridge full of this beer.