Sierra Nevada Sidecar and Tropical Torpedo

Line extensions aren’t new in the beer industry, but the practice seems to have picked up steam in the past few months. With the arrival of Sidecar and Tropical Torpedo from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., it’s safe to assume that other breweries will follow suit.

There’s no disputing the influence that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale has on the industry. It introduced bold hop flavor to scores of drinkers and is regularly cited by professional brewers as the beer that sparked their entrance into the industry. With its familiar green label proclaiming “Purest Ingredients” and “Finest Quality,” the pale ale remains a solid go-to and the American benchmark of the style, even in an age when pale ales are stylistically all over the map.

Much of the same can be said for Torpedo, the longtime IPA offering from Sierra Nevada, and the namesake beer for the device created by the brewery to cram even more hop flavor into each heritage brown bottle.

Sierra Nevada was founded in 1980 in Chico, California, at a time when there were only a handful of breweries operating in the country. Now, with more than 5,000 in the United States and a consumer base craving hops of all flavors and strengths, beer makers must find new ways to keep the cash-flow coming in. Make no mistake, IPA is the strongest selling style in the craft category, and sales of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale remain strong as well. Employees of the company have said that the brewery’s new location in Mills River, North Carolina, is the “house that pale ale built.”

But with the line extension offerings of Sidecar (a pale ale with orange) and Tropical Torpedo, Sierra Nevada hopes to widen its appeal with a generation of hop-minded drinkers.

Sierra Nevada Sidecar
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Chico, California, and Mills River, North Carolina
5.3% | Pale Ale w/ Orange

Immediately after the first swallow, there’s no denying the soul of Sierra Nevada lives in this beer. A perfect blend of hops that never strives to overwhelm is backed by a familiar caramel malt grip on the palate. This beer opens with the sweet aromas of ripened apricot and evolves into honeycomb. The orange shows up on the finish in the form of a spritz that’s squeezed from the peel. It’s the pale ale you know with a twist.

Sierra Nevada Tropical Torpedo
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Chico, California, and Mills River, North Carolina
6.7% | India Pale Ale

This one’s dank in a way that the original Torpedo is not. Some bottles may come out of North Carolina, but the aroma screams California. Punches of just-ripe pineapple and papaya are first on the scene, followed by familiar grapefruit and woody hops. It’s soft on both the mouthfeel and the perception, drinking down easy. The bitterness lingers on the finish with a drying astringency that is easily quenched by the next sip.

About Beer of the Moment:

All About Beer Magazine’s Beer of the Moment series aims to find that compass heading in the endless sea of new beers. Whether classic or the current cutting edge, these are fresh releases that inspire, that challenge, that stand for something. They’re why we’re All About Beer.

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John Holl is the editor of All About Beer Magazine. 

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