This Is My Blood: Northern Hemisphere Harvest

Over six months ago at this point, I made a list of all the beer styles I wanted to try. I'm not going to finish it this year, but there's definitely a few more out there that are doable. HERE is the list, and here is another beer style to check off it.

Wet-Hopped Ale

(#84)

Exemplified by Northern Hemisphere Harvest

This is one of those beer styles that's not necessarily it's own true style, just a variation on an already known style. Okay, so you know IPAs, right? And you know how IPAs live and die on the hops? The hops provide flavor, aroma, and levels of bitterness. There are a ton of different IPAs because there are a ton of different types of hops. The hops are picked off a plant, dried, and mixed with the wort during the brewing process. It a normal ingredient for any beer, but the hops are at the forefront in IPAs.

You may have noticed the word "dried" in the last paragraph, snuggled in there between two comfy commas. This is the key descriptor that is removed when we are talking about "wet-hopped" beers. Instead of drying the hops, the cones are picked off the flower and thrown right into the mix. As you can imagine, this alters the taste a little bit. The greenness gives a bit of an underripe flavor. You can taste it in your mouth as you're reading this, can't you?

I dunno, I wasn't the biggest fan, but I could see enjoying one in the springtime or something. I'm the type of person who'd rather eat a brown banana than a green banana, if that explains it. But to each their own.

NOTES
 

BEER: Northern Hemisphere Harvest (there is a Southern Hemisphere version out there somewhere)

STYLE: American IPA

ABV: 6.7%

BREWED BY: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

LOCATION: Chico, California

PURCHASED AT: GAT Beer

PAIRED WITH: Rising Sun Pizza, which was tasty but super late and I'm reluctant to get it delivered again after this

 

GRADE: 2.5 pukes out of 5

 

BEER COUNT: 474