Serendipity brought me to Noble Ale Works on a chilly Sunday night – where I finally got a chance to grab a proper 16oz pint of Resilience IPA, a $5 bid, for a beer that gives 100% to the devastating Butte County fires up north. After the holidays thinking about all those people displaced by the massive fires, I would gladly pay so much more for such a giving beer.
Sierra Nevada Brewing in Chico, CA, neighbor to the horrific fires, organized one of the greatest things craft beer has ever done, “We will be brewing Resilience on Giving Tuesday, November 27 and donating 100 percent of the beer sales to the Camp Fire Relief Fund. In addition, we are also asking every brewer in America to brew Resilience and do the same.” Many O.C. breweries grabbed the recipe, made a batch, and put it on tap, just like Noble.
On my visit, serendipity went a step further as I looked around to find a place to sit; Jim Mellem, ex-brewer at Sierra Nevada and longtime Chico resident sat sipping the same copper-hued pint, wife Jessica at his side. “It’s kind of like a lighter version of cele (pronounced selly),” he says, knowing full well cele is Sierra-speak for Celebration Ale, a fresh hop Sierra Nevada beer made for the holidays. “I just had a pint out in Ohio while visiting family for the holidays,” he continued.
The beer itself is completely liter-worthy, and Jim is right…it does have that Sierra vibe. Citrusy hops on the nose, nineties malt profile on the back end, and a hundred percent heart on the finish. Be part of craft beer history as one of the fine people that takes down a pint or two at one of the 1400 craft breweries that did the same as Noble, donating its time and resources to make Resilience. When you see Sierra Nevada’s version on tap, be sure to check it out as well!
Noble Ale Works is at 1621 Sinclair St B, Anaheim, (714) 634-2739; noblealeworks.com.
Greg Nagel has been writing about beer since 2011, is an avid homebrewer of wine, cider, and beer, is a certified Cicerone Beer Server, level 1 WSET in Wine, a podcaster with the Four Brewers Show, and runs a yearly beer festival called Firkfest happening on June 29th in Anaheim!