Beer Review: Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary - Ken & Jack's Black Barleywine

Chico, CA (12/14/09)—Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. will mark 2010 with a yearlong celebration of the trailblazing brewers who helped transform America into the world’s most exciting brewing nation. Next year is the 30th anniversary for the Chico-based brewery, and Sierra Nevada is teaming up with the founders of the movement to benefit select charities and beer drinkers across the country. http://www.sierranevada.com/about/news.html#sierra30

http://www.craftbeer.com/pages/stories/featured-brewery/show?title=new-albion-brewing

Well I've got one of these in front of me right now, and it's some high quality beer, that's for sure. It poured a deep, heavy head, dwindling down to a foamy nut-brown lid. The beer itself is a fathomless almost-black mahogany that allowed just a infintesimal (that's fancy talk for very small) amount of light to peak through. The first thing that hits you is the toasted malt aroma; there's a little floral scent and some pine as well. Enough chocolatey flavor with a whiff of coffee to make it interesting. It's a 10+% ABV, but there's no sense of alcohol heat. Not a fan of the crumbling cork though. Overall, a big winner.