Last year Sierra Nevada released their first bottled version of their Harvest Fresh Hop Ale, a beer brewed with fresh raw hops harvested from the Yakima Valley in Washington State. This past month they followed it up with the first release of their Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale, a beer brewed the same way with hops harvested in New Zealand (the only place that harvests hops during "our" springtime. The question is, how do these beers stack up against eachother?
Let the battle of hemispheres begin!
Brewery
Location
Chico, California, USA (both)
Names
Style
American Pale Ales/India Pale Ales (both)
Container
24 oz. bottle (both)
Two-row Pale & Caramel (both)
ABV
6.7% (both)
Bittering Hops
Northern - Centennial from Yakima Valley in Washington
Southern - Pacific Hallertau from New Zealand
Finishing Hops
Northern - Cascade & Centennial from Yakima Valley in Washington
Southern - Motueka & Southern Cross from New Zealand
IBUs
Northern - 60-65 IBUs
Southern - 66 IBUs
Yeast
Ale Yeast (both)
Looks like...
Northern - Pours a slick, clean golden tangerine color. You swear that you can see the alpha acids floating around within that beautiful amber liquid. The head is fluffy and has the rings of a fresh beer.
Southern - Pours a nice, deep dark golden color with a decent-sized head on top. Carbonation is moderate. Head slowly dissipates leaving some nice lacing along the top of the glass. A great looking pour.
Both beers look great in a glass. Because they are brewed with the same malts they look almost identical.
Smells like...
Northern - Smell is outstanding. Its bitter lemon, grapefruit, pure fresh humulus lupulus juice in all its glory. There is a bit of breadiness to compliment the overload of hoppiness. Pure olfactory heaven if you ask me and I am a hophead.
Southern - Smell is fresh, spicy hops. Definitely floral but I also get some sweet fruit notes, kind of like Froot Loops cereal a bit (I can't think of a better way to describe it). Don't get me wrong, this is definitely a hoppy smelling beer! Hopheads won't be let down by the smell.
Both have very powerful fresh hop smells. You really get a good idea of just how fresh the hops that went into these beers were when the brewing took place. Great job Sierra Nevada!
Tastes like...
Northern - Taste is bitter. Go figure. This is fresh hop taste at its best and very high on the tongue drying scale. Lots of citrus and piney notes. You have to respect a brewery for being able to create a beer that satisfies all the hop loving senses. Don't worry, this is balanced as well. You can drink it and not say its another one sided hop bomb that lacks character.
Southern - Taste is crisp, tongue-drying and has a long lasting aftertaste of hop bitterness. There is a strong acidic quality to this beer. Its kind of like the alpha acids are tiny scrubbing bubbles really giving it to the inside of your mouth. Its mouth puckering with not a whole lot of malt backbone. A lot of this has to do with the brewing process I'm sure. I am however not sure that term "robust" properly describes the hop presence in this beer. I'd say that it is dominating! Nonetheless, this is a great beer if you need to free base some hops to get your fix.
Overall...
Personally I liked both of them a lot! The Northern was more balanced and had a lot of what I am used to from a big citrusy/piney West Coast IPA. All the qualities I love from a big hoppy beer were there. The Southern was a little less balanced and the after taste was drawn out and very, very bittering. Not a bad thing, it just might not lead to you grabbing another bottle right away. I'd have to go with Northern being the more drinkable of the two. However, I'd have to say that both are tremendous beers in their own right and I look forward to the continuation of this series.
The Runner-Up is...
Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale
The Winner is...
"Northern Hemisphere" Harvest Fresh Hop Ale
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