Northern Hemisphere Harvest Wet Hop Ale - Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

HappyBivouac

Iowa

4.35/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Sierra Nevada 2009 13th Release Harvest Wet Hop Ale. Poured from the 24oz to a Bell's imperial pint glass.

a- Pours (vigorously) a nice-looking amber orange with a HUGE faintly yellow-green off-white head. Spotty lacing down the glass after a few sips.

s- Fresh cut grass of a summer's day, grapefruit wedges, and evergreen sap aromas wafting in through the window. Little bit of spice, honey, and bready/biscuity malts. I like what this is doing. A fairly full and well-rounded aroma.

t- Pine, grapefruit, grass all hit the tongue, with a beautiful and surprisingly strong honey-like sweetness. Only slight astringency-- exactly what I want in my IPA and what I think Sierra Nevada nails better than just about anyone else. Faint and indistinguishable spices, and a very balancing malt backbone. In the aftertaste the sweetness slowly fades to leave a mostly grassy impression. I find this completely takes care of my hop fix but keeps the balance in check very nicely.

m- Medium-bodied with a nice hoppy "sticky" quality to it. Where's the carbonation? A bit more would do this wonders. I almost wonder if the fresh hop oils dampen this a bit, but I wouldn't really know.

d- So good. Each sip/gulp/drink leaves me wanting another. Very refreshing, full in flavor, but balanced. An exemplary example of what this brewery does so well. I can fall back on this beer time and time again. (especially with the Torpedo shortage in Iowa right now! but that's another discussion altogether)

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2010 04:00:46 | More by HappyBivouac

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