“His passion for beer and brewing is infectious and his (and his business partner Bernard’s) beer, Taras Boulba, is one of my all time favorite beers. We couldn't think of a better person to name our Beer Camp beer after.”
It’s true. Two of California’s most beloved breweries collaborated to create Yvan the Great, a Belgian-style blonde ale for Sierra Nevada's epic Beer Camp 12-pack that I can’t stop writing about. This beer defies styles with its bright, resinous hop profile (much like that of an American IPA) with the dry yeast character of a Belgian farmhouse ale.
Yvan teh Great bottle“The hops in Yvan the Great are not your typical IPA-type hops, and that was on purpose,” Cilurzo says. “So there are no Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe, or Amarillo hops in the beer. Instead we went with Celeia and Strisselspalt hops. I always had Celeia in mind, but on the second pilot brew we added the Strisselspalt, not only for their wonderful aroma and flavor but also because it is a favorite hop of [Sierra Nevada’s] Ken Grossman.”