Moxee-Moron Imperial Session IPA
Multiple breweries as part of Sierra Nevada Beer Camp collaboration
Style: Imperial Session IPA
Stats: 7.5 percent ABV, 70 IBU
Available: 12-ounce cans in Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp Across America Collaboration 12 pack at select bottleshops and stores. Also on tap at the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across America Festival Tour stop in Seattle on June 11.
My thoughts: Sierra Nevada brought together five Northwest breweries, including Washington brewers Bale Breaker Brewing and Black Raven Brewing, to brew this beer as part of its Beer Camp Across America Collaboration series. The beer is one of six beers that is part of this year’s series — one beer representing each region of the Brewing United States of America.
Bale Breaker was the captain of the Pacific NW and Rockies collaboration, and chose Barley Brown’s Beer, of Baker City, Oregon; Melvin Brewing, of Wyoming; and Odell Brewing, of Fort Collins, Colorado; to go along with Black Raven to help brew the beer. The five breweries obviously felt at home brewing up an IPA.
Technically, Moxee-Moron is more imperial than session, but I was surprised at how easily I could have had a second after one bottle. The beer reminds me of Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo IPA, a very clean, proficient IPA that hits all the marks a good IPA should: up front bitterness, refreshing and a nice lingering hop finish.
That said, the beer felt a little heartless. I usually feel this way about Sierra Nevada beers, and it’s not surprising that five separate brewers would brew a beer that feels a little cold-hearted. It’s a technically strong beer, but there’s little soul.
Also, maybe it’s because IPAs continue to be en vogue and every brewery worth its salt nowadays does multiple ones, but the NW collaboration for the Beer Camp didn’t feel as adventurous as some of the other beers, for example the Imperial Brown by the Midwest group.
One cool note: The brewers got to use Sierra Nevada’s Hop Torpedo, which is basically a hop pressure cooker. The Hop Torpedo, invented by Sierra Nevada’s Ken Grossman, pushes the beer from the tanks through a stainless steel device full of whole-cone hops and back into the fermenting tank. The Hop Torpedo uses pressure to suck out the oils and resins in the hops, giving the IPA a rounded hop flavor and subtle bitterness.
Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp Across America Festival Tour makes its Seattle stop on June 11 at Lake Union Park. The festival features the six collaboration beers and beers from more than 100 Northwest breweries, including Foggy Noggin Brewing, Justice Brewing and Sound to Summit Brewing. For more information, including tickets, go to www.beercamp.sierranevada.com/festivals/seattle.
From the brewery: The city of Moxee is in the heart of the Yakima Valley hop growing region and this Imperial Session IPA — a style contradiction — honors the Pacific Northwest’s hop-bomb heritage. Moxee-Moron features hops in the mash, the kettle, the Hop Torpedo, and the fermenter for ultra-complex hop aromas and flavors.
— Aaron Swaney, Special to The Herald
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