As an avid consumer of beer, the fall season is one of my favorite times of the year. Everyone is familiar with Oktoberfest beers, but there's always one style that seems to fall by the wayside: Harvest Ales. Typically classified by floral, hoppy flavors and a bitter backbone, it is a must-have for any beer enthusiast. And, when we talk about harvesting crops, we're talking about hops (don't you just love rhymes?)!
The most common type of harvest ale is one that is wet-hopped (this isn't a sexual euphemism, I swear). What does this mean? Well, the act of wet-hopping involves adding freshly-picked (not dried) hops directly into the beer. Fresh hops have a significant amount of oil and resin remaining in them, and the result is a much more pronounced hop aroma and flavor. And so, without further ado, here are two of my favorite harvest ales:
1) Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale—Without a doubt, this is the beer I always find myself searching for every fall. Sierra Nevada may be regarded in some ways as a ""mass producer"" of beer, but they're still a microbrewery to me. This beer smells absolutely wonderful, complete with citrus, pine and an amazingly fresh hop aroma that needs to be smelled to be believed. The taste is equally as palatable—creamy, hoppy goodness with a slightly bitter backbone, although not nearly on the same level as an IPA. This will always be a winner in my book.
2) Founders Harvest Ale—Another wonderful example, Founders Harvest Ale is also full of wet-hopped goodness. Sticking your nose into the bottle would probably make you feel as if you were in a grapefruit orchard—the aroma is that strong! The hops, while prevalent, really take a backseat to the citrus overtones. Unlike the Sierra Nevada, this beer is a lot fruitier in flavor and is milder, which is great for those beer drinkers who are adverse to the usual IPA bitterness. It's extremely smooth and anyone could easily down an entire four pack within an hour (if they're feeling particularly ambitious) or two. It's much, much lighter than Sierra Nevada's iteration, but is still absolutely phenomenal.
The cool thing about hoppy beers is how easy they are to pair with food—both of these would be the perfect complement to any sort of spicy dish. Curries are typically the classic pairing, and it's no different here—the strong, up-front bitterness of the hops is a great combination with the spiciness of the curry. For those uninterested in hoppy brews, check out my next column, where I recommend a couple of beers more geared towards dessert—pumpkin ales!
—Dylan Katz
