Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Raspberry Sundae Ale
Sierra Nevada has been producing their variety, mixed-packs of Beer Camp collaborations for a few years now — joining forces with many of the nation’s best and brightest breweries. For 2017, the California company has split its annual program with an equal number of overseas companies. First up, however, is a collaboration with another California company, The Bruery. Together, the duo have produced Raspberry Sundae Ale, an 8% ABV brew crafted with raspberries, cocoa, vanilla and lactose.
Out of the entire pack of collaborative efforts, Raspberry Sundae Ale was my least favorite. The appearance and flavors were muddled right from the start as the lactose and raspberry tartness fought one another — the vanilla sitting far in the background and the cocoa to scared to even make its presence known. The lactose does provide a nice creaminess that I particularly enjoyed and the higher alcohol content was masked quite well.
I sort of liked the idea behind this particular brew, but the execution just didn’t work in my favor. There were aspects of Raspberry Sundae that I liked, but overall, it just wasn’t a good match for my particular tastes. Perhaps, subconsciously, that’s why I picked it out of the box first — just get it done and over with, then move onto bigger and tastier brews.