Mixed packs are fun, and Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp is one of my annual favorites. This collaboration pack always features fun and unique beers with partnerships with some of the best breweries out there. Beer Camp Across the World is no exception in this regard, but it expands the collaboration to overseas breweries as well.
The Hoppy Belgian-Style Golden Ale with Belgium’s Duvel Moortgat at 8% has the aroma of a banana poppy seed muffin and tastes of banana, clove, slight tart lemon, and a peppery finish.
Ginger Lager with Surly Brewing of Minnesota is exactly as it says. A 6.2% golden orange lager with heavy ginger aromas and some slight peach scents. With light malt, the ginger dominates the flavor profile of this lager with a heavy spiciness in the mouth and long-lingering in the finish.
The collaboration with California’s The Bruery is another whose title, Raspberry Sundae, is a clear descriptor of the beer. The beer smells of raspberry, chocolate, and spent grains, and the creamy 8% ABV beer has the taste of cocoa and raspberry.
Garage Project is a New Zealand brewery, and their Campout Porter is a fine example of the style. The 7.7% ABV results in a medium mouthfeel with flavors dominated by roasted malt and underlying chocolate and vanilla.
The 7.0% East Meets West IPA with Tree House Brewing from Massachusetts seems a bit more West Coast than East with grapefruit and pine aromas as well as a juicy hop flavor profile that transitions from tropical to more distinct orange to piney with the pine lingering long.
As expected in a collaboration with Colorado’s Avery Brewing, the 9.4% Dry-Hopped Barleywine-Style Ale turns the hops up and their presence is clear even in a heavy barleywine. The beer has flavors of caramel and oak before the hops shine late and into the finish.
Another dry-hopped beer is from the Lone Star State with St. Arnold Brewing’s Dry-Hopped Berliner-Style Weisse. This one is much lower in ABV than Avery’s dry-hopped contribution at 4.2%. The beer has a barnyard aroma with flavors of tart lemon, unripe peach, and saltiness coming in tardy.
The Denmark feature with Mikkeller is Thai-Style Iced Tea Ale which is exactly as it sounds but also my least favorite of the pack. The beer has heavy flavors of chai tea and black licorice.
London’s Fuller’s Brewery contributed an Atlantic-Style Vintage Ale which tastes of biscuits and jam with a nice, creamy mouthfeel in a relatively big 8.5% ABV ale.
Ayinger Brewery of Germany has perfected a rather distinct flavor over the centuries, and that Ayinger profile is obvious in the Dunkel Weisse with a nice estery and banana aroma, and tastes of banana, clove, light malt sweetness as well as a hint of candy sugar and dark fruit.
Kiuchi Brewery from Japan collaborated on a White IPA with Yuzu. This 7% IPA is very floral in both the aroma and flavor of this bright beer.
Not surprising, the West Coast-Style DIPA with Oregon’s Boneyard Beer was my favorite. It comes in at 8.3% with heavy aromas of pine and slight scents of lemon and pineapple. The beer starts slightly sweet before going all IPA with grassy, piney and a long, dank bitterness and hop bite in the finish.
If you’re in the mood for something different, you will find at least a few beers in Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp Across the World that do not disappoint. But don’t wait too long, this collaboration pack has been on the shelves for a few months now and is getting harder to find.
Cheers,
Alex