Big Beef Beer Review
By Greg

    When I was in second grade, there was a poster hanging on the classroom wall of a small mouse saying to a very huge elephant, "You're obese, overweight, and stout!"  The elephant's angry reply was, "Are you calling me fat?"  The poster was designed to teach me and my fellow students about synonyms.  Many years later, when I had my first stout beer, stout took on a new meaning.  It became synonymous with heavy, and I've shied away from stout beers ever since.
    My selection criteria for the beer review each week is very simple and random.  When I walk through the beer section of my grocery store, or the local liquor store, I generally choose the first beer I see that I have never tried.  This week the first beer I saw was Sierra Nevada Stout.  Stout!  I was at the grocery store and couldn't buy as many bottles as I thought I could drink.  Maybe I could buy one, but there was no way I could buy a half bottle.  I reluctantly bought a six pack.
    The beer was in the refrigerated section,  so as soon as I got home I poured one.  It was rich and black like dark molasses.  The head was thick and foamy brown.  I could have shaved with it.  So far, it was the same old stout.  I took a sip.  I enjoyed the flavor.  I have always enjoyed the flavor of stout beers, though.  My problem with stouts, is that they have always weighed me down.  I might as well drink lead.  I took another sip and waited.  I enjoyed the smoky flavor in my mouth.   I took a few more sips.  I enjoyed the taste, but surely there would soon be a brick in my stomach.  Another sip. Another.  Another.  I opened a second bottle.  This was good.  A flavorful, full bodied beer, and it didn't require a fork lift to get me out of my chair to get a second.
    I'm still not a fan of stout beers, but I ranked this beer 4 BB&B's. For someone who enjoys Guinness, or any other stout, this could be a signature beer.  Although the name might have given it away already, this is an American beer.  Perhaps that is why its lighter than any other stout I've tried.  Sierra Nevada Stout is certainly not like "making love in a canoe," though.  (Monty Python fans will know what I mean.)
    It is brewed in Chico, California, Northwest of San Francisco, by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.  Suprisingly, it's distibuted all over the US.  Go to their website to find a distributor near you!
 

Ranking :  out of 5 BB&B's.

Price:  I paid $6.90 a 6 pack U.S.

Availability:  Can get it at well stocked grocery stores and finer liquor establishments.

URL:  http://www.sierra-nevada.com/  Go there to find a distributor near you!