The Sierra inversion

Back in January I reviewed a set of Sierra Nevada fresh-hop beers recently arrived in Ireland. The world turns and now the brewery has released a parallel set of southern-hemisphere-hopped beers and, aww bless, they've printed the cans upside down. It took just under two months for them to travel from North Carolina to my patio.

First up is Southern Hemisphere Hoppy Pilsner. The kiwi hop varieties are largely based on noble German greats so I expected something very much true to style here. It's 5.5% ABV and a bright clear gold, smelling fruity more than veggy: guava and mango in particular to the fore. And, strangely, I didn't get much of a hop hit. There's a lovely soft and rounded malt pillow, of the sort you'd find in a good helles. Poking around for something to say about the hops, I found a vague mix of flowers, herbs and slightly more exotic coconut oil, but none of it very pronounced. Screwing my eyes shut and concentrating really hard there's a touch of celery and white pepper discernible, which fits the noble hop brief, but that's it. This was fine; easy going and undemanding. I take exception only to the use of the word "hoppy".

With Southern Hemisphere Session IPA we drop down to 4.6% ABV though stay on the bright gold theme. Now here are the dank grassy aromas I expect from the bottom half of Planet Hop, though tempered with gentler citrus fruit. The flavour is very lager-like, aided by a light and clean body without much malt character. Instead, the flavour pops with those tropical hops: peach, white plum, guava and grapefruit, before finishing on a pleasing dry tannin. It's a quick performance, dancing across the palate and setting up the next sip, so I can well imagine a session on pints of this. No fireworks; nothing that says fresh hops per se, but a damn decent drinking beer brimming with hop fun.

On to the grown-up stuff with Southern Hemisphere IPA, the ABV now at 6.7% ABV and the gleaming bright glassfuls are behind us as things take a turn for the murky. It smells great, though: a heady orange candy backed by savoury rye bread. There's quite an alcohol kick when I take a pull, a long and slow gut-warming burn. The Fanta-like orange element rolls in behind this, making me suspect the presence of Aussie signature Galaxy, and indeed that's what they used, alongside New Zealand's Motueka. While I liked the hop side, the overall beer is a bit too rough; there's a dreggy, unfinished, feel to it. It lacks the polished sparkle of the previous two and does nothing to make up for this shortcoming.

That meant apprehension for Southern Hemisphere Double IPA: how soupy would this be? It was clearer, at least, back to the bright golden amber of the first two. The aroma is hot and fruity: the mangoes are ripe, if not actually on the turn. There's a bit of a booze kick on tasting; a pleasant and clean spirituousness of the sort I've found in IPAs much stronger than the 8% ABV at work here. There's no punch and only a vague waxy bitterness, which puts it outside the bounds of truly great double IPA. That said, it also avoids the pitfalls of extreme booze or hops that are too often their downfall. Instead it's a simple beer, wearing the hefty booze up front while also offering a mildly syrupy fruit salad middle, but no real finish. It's basic stuff, and like the pilsner we came in on, unflawed but quite boring.

I don't think Sierra Nevada is bringing its A-game to these sets. While they have so far all contained perfectly decent beer, none have wowed in the way that Sierra Nevada highlighting hops ought to have wowed.