On the skids

Sierra Nevada beers usually arrive here in sets, but it's a solitary can of IPA today. Ski-themed Powder Day might be a bit of an experiment: the use of lupulin powder gives it its name and I don't think that's a regular Sierra Nevada feature.

Comparison with Torpedo is inevitable as it's a similar strength at 7.7% ABV, and also looks to be very much on a west coast trip: clear and amber coloured. The aroma is on the fruity side, however: a soft and mellow waft of cantaloupe and chew sweets. The flavour continues in that vein, adding in a weighty malt sweetness that's entirely in keeping with the strength. What's missing here and not in Torpedo is a proper bitterness. There's a mild bite, no more than a nibble, in the finish, but it really feels to me that something is missing there.

Despite the hefty feel and tropical topnotes, this is no fluffy New Englander, and I'm sure the brewery didn't mean it to be. But neither is it a punchy west-coast IPA of the sort Sierra Nevada is famous for. What you get instead is something strong, dangerously easy-drinking, but ultimately rather bland. Time to go back to real hops, lads.