Sierra Nevada - 30th Anniversary Imperial Helles Bock

Good evening beer lovers!  For some reason I am in delightfully chipper mood tonight.  No, its not because I'm all drugged up on antihistamines... damn allergies.  Its because the sun was shining after work, the temperature was in the 50s for one of the first times this spring, and I knew I had a delicious brew waiting for me to enjoy when I got home.  The only downside to the night so far was the Twins game getting rained out in New York.  I'm ok with that though since the Twins had an epic comeback win against them last night!  Woo hoo!!!

Tonights beer is one I have had on hand for close to six months now.  I couldnt tell you why its taken me this long to pop open.  Maybe its because it looks like a fancy bottle because it has a cork instead of a cap.  Or it could be because it was $10 for the bottle and I wanted to save it for a special occasion.  That sounds more accurate.  This beer is being reviewed in honor of spring finally making an appearance here in Minnesota!  Cheers to no more snow on the ground!

Sierra Nevada's Imperial Helles Bock, brewed in part by two of the countries most well known home brewers Charlie Papazian and Fred Eckhardt, is one of four beers produced in their 30th anniversary series.  The Helles style of beer, one we partially reviewed during our German beer tasting event back in December, was originally brewed to compete with the dominant German Pilsner style at the time.  Generally light with a sweet malt aroma and subdued hop profile, this style is bland on paper but brilliantly full flavored when brewed properly.  Sierra Nevada's version is an imperial style meaning its going to be bigger, more alcoholic and bolder than your standard Helles.  Who can complain with that?

The cork pops off with a thin, white smoke of carbonation flowing out the top of the neck.  As I pour this beer I can already smell the sweet malt aroma expected from the Helles style.  A cream colored head forms on top of a  brilliantly clear, straw colored brew.  A sweet toasted malt character is what I sense first followed by an unexpected crisp, aromatic hop profile.  Nicely balanced with neither overpowering the other.  The head has receded into a few small slugs floating in the middle of a thin lacing clinging to the circumference of my pint.  My first sip is more bitter than I excepted.  I get a lot of floral hops throughout my first few sips with the bready, slightly toasty malt profile showing up every so often.  The body is nice and full, more so than your typically Helles.  Moderate carbonation accentuates the bitterness and 8.3% ABV of this anniversary brew.  Very smooth finish with no lingering cloying sweetness or bitterness.

Overall 4.5/6.0 - While I cant say this was my favorite out of the four anniversary beers Sierra Nevada produced last year I can say this was a well brewed beer.  I wanted to give it a lower score because of the higher than expected hop profile in the flavor but I should have known that may be the case because A) its an imperial beer and B) I don't know very many home brewers, much less Sierra Nevada, who can restrain themselves from throwing a massive amount of hops into every beer they make!  The beer is delicious and I would certainly drink it again.  If you can find a bottle, definitely pick it up if you like your beers on the hoppier side.