I realize I'm going to drive right past Twin Peaks, so I stop by for a slice of pie and a room at the Great Northern. It turns out to be out of my price range so I book a room at a motel instead and head down to the grocery store. I'm still pretending I'm a rich person on vacation, so I get smoked salmon for breakfast tomorrow and notice 12-packs of Sierra Nevada Beer Camp available. I had been ignorant as to what this actually was, expecting a variety of abrasive, hoppy northwest styles, but it turns out it's a pack of 12 different beers, each a collaboration with a different brewery. Some clearly brewed on the collaborator's system, because the packaging differs (this year's included two cans in with the bottles). Must be incredibly labor intensive to collate and package.
Anyway, I was out of room and didn't really want to buy 12 beers, but then I remembered that the aim here was to be as gamey as possible, so next minute I'm booking it around the corner with the thing under my arm.
Editor's note: I didn't drink these all in one night. I'm not that kind of hedo-masochist.
Myron's Walk: Fizzy and yellow with a big head and a smell like sourdough bread. Taste is kinda bitter, but with Belgian yeast and some tropical fruit flavor. Coriander too. Not sure if I ethically approve of the 'Belgian IPA', but this instance is tasty enough. Apparently brewed with Allagash.
Torpedo Pilsner is a balanced, light treat that tastes better than it smells, and it doesn't smell bad. The finish is hoppy, but not overall bitter. This one begs to be paired with food. Brewed with Firestone Walker.
Tater Ridge is delicious, smelling like autumnal malts and with a taste that is also malt-forward, but definitely reflects the sweet potatoes. Not overly sweet, and the malt counters the yamminess in a way that makes this even more palatable than sweet potatoes alone. Of course, it is also beer. That could be why I enjoy it more than sweet potatoes.
Electric Ray is a tasty, citrusy IPL, really leveraging that clean yeast flavor profile to make something that tastes like an herbal, hoppy lemonade. Almost exactly the kind of beer I don't like, and I like it.
Double Latte is a big bold coffee stout, a little bitter (though tempered for being a milk stout), but otherwise kinda similar to a Terrapin WNB.
Canfusion Rye Bock could be a hopped-up bock, I guess, but maybe the spicy bitterness on the finish is the rye.
Yonder Bock is strange in that it is a maibock with a little somethin' extra going on... I'd say passionfruit (the yogurt I ate this morning should make me an expert on that flavor) which I'm guessing came from a specific hop varietal. Strange in that lagers (maibocks included) tend to have very clean flavor profiles and taste of (if anything) faint applejuice. Maybe the point is that the clean base shows off the extra flavor. Smells fun too; I would not recommend drinking straight out of the can as I did. A brief glance at the back of the can tells me I'm mostly right, but the tropical medley is coming from three hop strains, one of which doesn't even have a name yet.
Chico King is the Three Floyds collab. Thick foamy head and a smell that might be yeast. Taste is pretty hop-forward with maybe coriander, though that doesn't really make sense. A balanced pale though, for sure. Kinda steely aftertaste.
Maillard's Odyssey boasts a thick texture and a massive leathery flavor that I didn't quite expect. I'm trying to remember what Black Note tastes like (it's a Bell's collaboration, so that's why it came to mind) to draw comparison. Kinda high IBU balanced with massive malt and a hint of smoke on the first sip. Maybe like a more hopped Hair of the Dog Adam? Reminds me of something, but it's kind of hard to pin down. Easy to like, though.
Yvan the Great is the Russian River offering, and it comes out pretty crisp due to a healthy dose of coriander. Not quite a coriander bomb, but it's very much there in the smell and taste. Beyond that, it's light, heavily carbonated, and a decent blonde.
Alt Route is a solid alt, true to the style, which makes sense as the Victory collab, because their German styles are very authentic. Dryish and with a clean flavor profile. Reasonably hopped, and with a smooth body that tastes kinda like caramel.
There and Back claims to refer to the relative distance between New Glarus (the collaborator) and Sierra Nevada's California and North Carolina facilities, but I'm almost positive it's a Hobbit reference. The beer itself is good, making me wish I'd actually visited New Glarus instead of just passing through town. As appropriate for an English bitter, it's not very bitter even at 40 IBU. Mild English hops linger on the finish, which is pretty clean and otherwise a bit nutty.
