Filed under: IPA (shaker, tulip), Sierra Nevada | Tags: amazing, beautiful, bitter, brilliant, citrus, clear, crisp, delicious, dry, golden, grapefruit, high quality, hoppy, hops, long finish, nice, orange, pine, resin, well balanced
Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
First tasted on 2/21/2009
video added 3/25/2009
Style; glass: IPA; tulip
12 fl oz x 7.2% ABV = 86.4 / 60 = 1.44 beers * 150 C = 216 calories (est.)
Purchased at: Canal’s Lawrenceville, NJ for $1.12
Aroma: hops, citrus, stinging, and pine needles. Invigorating.
Visuals: beautiful brand safe packaging, summer sunset, brilliant golden orange clarity, thinning white yellowish head, exquisite lace.
Taste: starts sweet and bitter simultaneously, middle is dark with some roasted notes and lots of citrus, which lingers as grapefruit, resin, and tar.
Palate: peppery, stinging, and tart, middles dull to a warming and a throb in the back of the mouth, the finish is dark, warming, and delicious.
Overall: This is a spectacular, delicious, and superlative achievement. At this price, intensity, and quality, I have found my go-to daily bread. Sierra Nevada, you’ve absolutely done it. You are so hired.
http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/torpedo.html
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18 Comments so far
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As a hardcore IPA drinker, this stuff takes the cake, just as good as Avery’s….I’m in love once again…
Comment by Lance 03/07/2009 @ 11:11 AMNot a bad idea: the tart sweetness of a lemon cake might pair nicely with the citrusy bitterness of the IPA. It would take the cake.
Cheers.
Comment by lemasney 03/07/2009 @ 1:31 PMJohn,
Comment by Khürt 03/26/2009 @ 1:00 PMThese beer collages are beautiful. What software did you use? (please make it something for the Mac).
Hi, Khürt! I use Picasa — works beautifully on Mac.
Comment by lemasney 03/26/2009 @ 2:52 PMHey John.
I was going to tell you about this great beer that Sierra Nevada has (hint: it’s the one I’m commenting on), since I know how much you like very hoppy beers. But I was too late. You already have had it and loved it. Talk to you soon.
Beer Drinker
Comment by Beer Drinker 04/10/2009 @ 4:32 PMStill, please let me know about the great hoppy brews.
Thanks for thinking of me. I appreciate it, BD.
Comment by lemasney 04/10/2009 @ 11:47 PMI found my “soul-mate” beer; I love hoppy beers, and this one from a fairly major brewry is awesome! I’m trying to spread the word on Sierra’s Torpedo.
Comment by shiva 07/27/2009 @ 3:49 PMThis is a fantastic beer, and I appreciate your review, with some nice insight. I would have never poured Torpedo into a tulip glass the way you did (all straight down, without a partial tilt at the beginning), but to each his own. My personal opinion is to start it out as a 45 degree tilt and move into the vertical slowly, to achieve the proper head.
Once again, a really fantastic beer. SN did this one way right. It’s incredible, and I’m glad it’s readily available at a reasonable cost.
Comment by Sig 08/08/2009 @ 8:29 PMThank you John,
Fun to find your site. Just met Torpedo for the first time at a whole foods store in Albuquerque. Delighted and wanting to know more, I looked on line and thankfully found your review. So happy a pro agrees on this wonderful ale. -and I suppose you as many like me are also happy it is not just seasonal!
Thank you for your in depth analysis and honest and qualified appreciation.
Rightfully, thanks to SN the most.
Been a fan of their Pale Ale since first discovering it on tap at a small cafe on the Mendocino coast almost 30 years back. Started requesting it everywhere I went from Seattle to Fairfield, Iowa. Once a store or pub would get it in, the locals would keep it coming.
Beyond the finely crafted flavors, the bottle conditioning and seemingly finer or softer carbonation has left most everything else that is popular tasting somewhat dead to me, or should I say; lacking in a true sense of aliveness much like the choice of a grey canned pea next to the opening of a sweet fresh pod.
Friends don’t seem to notice this until explained and re-tasted, No judgement intended though, many are entertained by Fox news and soon forget that intelligence exists.
There is a depth of honesty in this form of bottling that must not be as easy as injection but appreciated by this novice often and with great pleasure and appreciation.
A Big fan of Big Foot too, shared 7 of these with a friend in Reno once, starting in June Lake, California with a 120 mile trail of dripping ice from my saddle bags to her house and ended up with her running wildly around an empty golf course that evening with two much better shaped and fully exposed cans as big as Fosters. Ha! sorry, had to relive that one for a moment. Let’s just say in 60 years it’s the only time I’ve seen a girl enjoy the flavor of both her pop tops at the same time! ROF-LMAO Thank you again to SN.
So happy for this new brew, can not wait to find it on tap. Having more depth and alcohol than SN Pale Ale I find it somewhere between this and a Big Foot Ale. -in other words, perfect!!
Great site, happy to find you, and will certainly be checking back.
Chris M
Comment by Chris in Wichita 10/17/2009 @ 3:24 PM-still upright, western states FT motor home person
A great pleasure to meet you Chris. I also wanted to say that your reply may very well be the most complete post on my site on the topic, including my posts. Cheers to you, and the SN for a great beer.
Comment by lemasney 10/18/2009 @ 1:51 PMI love beer. I find myself in the mood for different styles constantly, and when I want an IPA, I find myself always coming to this one. A big fan of Sierra Nevada, my jury’s still out on this or the Pale Ale being the best. Good indecisive place to be!
Comment by ragmop1953 02/13/2010 @ 10:13 PMThanks for stopping by, Ragmop!
Comment by lemasney 02/14/2010 @ 4:30 PMIn a Google search for “calories in a bottle of Torpedo” (which I am enjoying as I type), I found your site. Excellent site. Excellent review. Thanks for your noble efforts :^)
Comment by Gilgamesh 03/04/2010 @ 5:04 PMThanks for visiting, Gilgamesh!
Comment by lemasney 03/04/2010 @ 8:27 PMLove this fantastic hoppy IPA! Also love “Victory Hop Devil” and although more pricey…”Green Flash IPA”. My favorite three.
Comment by Ted Trullinger 08/16/2010 @ 8:23 PMAgreed on the HopDevil, that was my favorite go-to session IPA, until I discovered Torpedo. I’m kinda in imperial stout mode these days, with the occasional barleywine, but when I get that IPA itch again, I’ll be right back to my rotation of those two, along with a wonderful local brew here in Maine called Stowaway IPA by Baxter Brewing Co.
Comment by Jeff 11/12/2011 @ 7:11 AMI gotta say, the boys from Chico make some of my favorite staple beers. Torpedo is a shining example of what an IPA should be!
Comment by Ultrasquid 04/20/2011 @ 3:44 PMTorpedo is 236 kcal / 12 oz (so your estimate was pretty close) http://www.sierranevada.com/images/nutrition.pdf
Comment by Chuwey 04/01/2012 @ 7:29 PMYeah, it’s too bad IPAs always have more kcals, but it goes with the alcohol (and it’s worth it). Nice site, glad I stumbled on it.