Sierra Nevada Harvest 2008 Fresh Hop Ale

'Our newest addition to our Harvest family is Southern Hemisphere Harvest. This is the first time we know of that an American brewer has put out a beer with fresh-picked hops from the southern hemisphere. The inaugural ale will debut in late April and will feature fresh Pacific Hallertau, New Zealand Motueka and New Zealand Southern Cross hops, all from New Zealand.


Like our Celebration Ale, the fresh hops in this beer are dried right after being picked then shipped immediately to Chico for brewing so that they retain their peak aromatics and flavors. To ensure the freshest hops possible, we went to the added expense of flying these hops from New Zealand to Chico so we could brew with them the week after they were picked.'

This beer was a gift from my neighbors Rachael and Chris (soon to be moving out of our building, sadly) and I am glad they got it for me. It's pretty rare to see a fresh hop ale in the spring or summer and Sierra Nevada likes to let you know why.

This beer has a nice aroma to it that tipped me off that it was fairly, but not too, hoppy. Actually I find most beers are either too bitter or not enough because of the amount of hops present. This porridge was just right. Some sharp spices gave this beer a little twang to it and kept it from being a standard fresh hopped ale. I liked it and I also liked its price at free gift (at the store it isn't bad at $4). For some reason whenever you can eat or drink something out of season it seems that much more exotic, which I enjoyed with this brew.

There are a few other limited Harvest beers from Sierra Nevada that I want to check out. This one was a good way to start off what ended up being quite a long drinking session!