Sierra Nevada Wet Hop 2008 (Yes, 2008!)

I'm a ditherer when it comes to 'special beers' - whether it be limited editions or certain vintages. To prove exactly how much, It took a friend of mine to point out that I could escape this choice by buying two of each beer, but I was so caught up in personal turmoil that only Dante could dream of that this obvious answer could not present itself.

And it's with this in mind, and this exchange over on The Beer Nut ringing in my ears, that I finally got round to cracking open 2008's Harvest Wet Hop.

Well, despite my fears and advice, it didn't taste too bad. Mahogany in colour, it had that usual SN taste of boiled sweets and marmalade, although ramped up somewhat. I can certainly echo TBN's assertion that these Harvests are big beers, made even more so by a thick mouthfeel.

There was a definite pronounced hoppiness on the nose, which was a relief as I thought that would be the first to disappear. Peppery at first, but then mellowing out to a pungent citrussiness, my notes proclaim the aroma to me pretty similar to what I get in my kitchen when I'm chucking hops into my homebrewed beers. There's a certain green-ness that does set this out, aroma -wise, from a regular SN beer. The beer is bitter, obviously, but in much shorter terms than I'm used to.

Overall - an interesting beer that I think hasn't suffered too much from it's time in hibernation. I enjoyed it, anyway, so one could argue it served it's purpose. Saying that, I would have loved to have tasted it fresh and compared the two. Oh well - lesson learned. Buy two next time.