From the pleasant surprise category, I poured a Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop IPA this evening. (On a side note, that may well be the longest beer name on the planet). Anywho, I have found many SN offerings over the top when it comes to hops. Too much bitterness and not enough malt backbone so I wasnt optimistic. The beer poured a beautiful deep copper color with a strong white head that lingered forever and left a ton of lacing on the glass. Aroma was a smack down of floral and fruity notes with none of the grapefruit and piney notes you get from west coast hops. Not surprising since this uses New Zealand hops. Taste was terrific. Sure, the hops were prominent but there was a lot of caramel and sweet fruit flavor along with some toastiness in the background. As the beer warmed a bit, it mellowed even more and became seriously well balanced between the malt and the hops. Nice carbonation and a clean finish made this one of the better beers I have had recently. Like I said, pleasant surprise.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 01:43:36 +0000
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