Fresh hop ales are neither fresh, nor hoppy, nor ales - discuss!

[Rob DeNunzio]

Okay, that's not exactly true. But I found myself posting a reply to this discussion about the new Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere wet hop ale, and noticed it was getting a bit... wordy? So in the interest of Aleuminating civilly, here's where it continues...

Interestingly enough! Turns out I'm not the only person who thought that maybe a little time on the side in a dark, cool place would do a good turn to the one-dimensional, greeeeeen, hit you with the hopstick effect of the Southern Hemisphere. Fellow Aleumy Bill Brand made similar such commentary recently, only to get a little tsk-tsk email from local beer hero and nanobrewer extraordinaire, Brian Hunt, of Moonlight Brewing fame (likewise of Death & Taxes fame) regarding fresh/wet hop ales in general:

"Generally if hoppy beers are aged, the hop character diminishes. Sad to think of air-freighting hops from New Zealand only to be aged away. I have aged several wet hop beers and can say that they begin to go downhill rather quickly, and never improve after the normal aging time frame of the base beer."

He's got a point. And yeah, it's like stepping out onto a hop farm, sticking hops up your nose, and then reaching for a glass of nice, cold liquid hops. With a hop garnish. On the other hand, the more unbalanced a beer is (to me, at least) the further from quaffable it gets, being more of a novelty item. It's like someone presenting me with a pizza that tastes like nothing other than oregano. I mean, neat, you like oregano, and it certainly shows (oregano in the crust! In the sauce! In the cheese?! With fresh oregano served on it at the table!) but am I going to have more than couple of bites before the novelty's worn off? (Full disclosure: I do enjoy oregano.) It's near to an insult to the art of interplay to lay so much emphasis on one singular aspect of a quality beer. If only it weren't so delicious...

However! If you're in need of a refresher course in the myriad joys of hops, this is the way to go. As I said in this ancient post on Deschutes' wonderful Hop Trip wet hop ale, this style certainly "cuts to the essence of the hop in a way that resets your tastebuds to the first time they ever encountered that magical flower".

Question to the rest of you: Wet hop ales. Are they a novelty? Worthwhile in their own right? Is it a slap in the face of the brewer who had to revolve his/her entire life around the hour the flowers were picked to make a wet hop ale when you go and cellar the thing anyway? DIscuss.

[Chris of thebeergeek.com]

I thought the Sierra Harvest Ale this past fall was absolutely amazing. On the other hand, the Southern Hemisphere just didn't do it for me. I have had five or six bottles and it doesn't change my life like the Harvest did.

As for the hop character diminishing, I can attest to that. I came across a bottle of Harvest in mid-January and purchased it. While the beer was still drinkable, the zing/wow factor of the fresh hops was long gone.

[The Beer Philosopher]

Hmmm ... I have strong opinions about heavily-hopped beers and could easily while away the afternoon waxing eloquent about my particular position on the matter, but I'll spare you that torturous exercise. Besides, I'd be late getting back to work and that could adversely impact my beer-buying capabilities for the future. None of us want that.

Suffice to say I believe the craze for super hoppy beers is, by and large, a fad. I agree with Rob that the "slap you in the face and rip out your tongue" (that was mine, not Rob's) hop bombs are largely a novelty. Where is the craftsmanship in cramming a bottle full of pure alpha acids, really? This is the beer equivalent of extreme sports ... I sort of see the attraction, but constant pushing of the limits of human capabilities (or palates) is a little ... ... extreme. After a while, the shock value is gone and isn't that sort of the whole point with these envelope-pushing beers?

Wet hop ales ... fresh hop ales ... harvest ales ... whatever you wanna call 'em, I actually see these as an entirely different animal. To my understanding, wet hop ales aren't all about spiking the IBUs as high as they'll go - more concentrated, dried hops are better for that anyway - they're about capturing the fresh floral and herbal notes of the whole, green hop flower, right? Those little buggers are 60% water, after all, so you don't "wet hop" a beer for an IBU boost - you do it to make the hop presence in the nose more intense and ... well ... fresh. This, it would seem to me, involves real craftsmanship. The examples I've tried have been pretty well balanced and not overly-hopped in terms of flavor, despite the intense nose.

Cellaring wet hop beers, then, would seem to be counterintuitive to my thinking. The fresher the beer, the more of the "fresh" hop presence you'll get in the nose, impacting the whole experience of the beer. Unlike a 90 IBU monster imperial IPA, a well-crafted wet hop ale shouldn't need to be cellared. If the brewer is worth his hop cones, his beer should be at it's prime whilst fresh ...

Just my two cents ... which won't buy you much in the way of hops.

[Rob DeNunzio]

Agreed: I don't think anyone wants to go so far as to cellar this beer, which to my mind brings up the notion of letting it sit for months, or years. Perhaps even just letting the darned thing breathe for a while in a wide-brimmed glass would help take the edge off. As much as I love hop aroma (and I do, seriously, check out my deodorant and dog treats) I thought that the overabundance of hops in the nose of the Southern Hemisphere bordered on comical.

And I didn't mean to suggest anything regarding "hop bombs" or high-IBU beers in terms of being faddish. Like you said, these wet hop ales are hardly high in bitterness in comparison to even the tamest IPA, they're just do the crazy on the sniffer. There's a little semantic minefield we get into when we start throwing around the word "hoppy", because to different people, it can alternately mean "florally aromatic", "spicy", "citrusy", "minty", etc. Or it can just mean "bitter". If someone tells me a specific beer is "hoppy", it's near a guarantee that I have no idea what they're trying to tell me.

Reading your comment (and reviewing my old thoughts) reminds me that maybe wet hop ales should be novelty beers, and that they have their place. Just not the answer to my current quest for the perfect summer session sipper...

[Virgil G]

beer soap

a friend of mine got me that last year. I haven't used it, but it looks cool. It doesn't smell like beer at all.

[Rob DeNunzio]

Oh, man. That url looks *so* NSFW.

[Virgil G]

sacred... not golden

[The Beer Philosopher]

All that California sun might leave your lips a little dry as well ... a local remedy for you, sir.