“Northern Hemisphere was the first wet hop ale and it inspired the wet hop craze here in America. Wet—undried—hops go straight from the fields into our kettles within 24 hours. Because hops are incredibly perishable, using hops wet preserves all of the precious oils and resins for a unique drinking experience as evidenced by the intense herbal green flavors and citrus-like and floral aromas. Northern Hemisphere is part of our five-bottle Harvest series which features single hop, fresh hop, wet hop, and wild hop beers,”
Described as a wet hop ale by the brewers and we can definitely respect, as the description of this procedure of using wet hops has been explained perfectly. Quite a complex ale and we considered this to be very similar to a highly hopped IPA. Poured into a tulip glass, a dark amber/orange colour emerges. Lengthy retention of the head, almost creamy like drawing out some random lace trails as we imbibe. The aroma is quite resinous with a light floral character emanating…almost earthy. Suggestions of pine in the mouth, with sweet caramel malts balancing it out well. Delicate flavours of orange also coming through here. The bitterness is lingering but not brutal and devastatingly drying on the palate, just enough to give a nice effect on the tongue. There is a pleasant peppery spiciness present also. Damn fine bbrew. We love this brewery, it has to be in our top ten in the USA.