YAY!! Another one of the five!! This marks the third of Sierra Nevada’s string of five explorations that I’ve been able to find. Their second offering, Fresh Hop, features hops from New Zealand. Yep, Kiwi hops.

The Southern Hemisphere is known for a few things, including toilets that, when flushed, the water circulates in the opposite direction from here above the Equator, and seasons that are flipped; Spring up here is autumn down there. Sierra bought a whole pile of freshly picked hops from a farm in New Zealand this past spring, had them dried and shipped to the U.S., all within a week, then dumped them into the brew just in time to impart new flavors not typically experienced in North American beer.

Speaking of which, it’s pretty damn awesome. There’s a floral note about mid way though each sip that I’ve never tasted before. It perfectly segues the citrus nose into the malty finish, something that doesn’t always happen so nicely. Despite this beer being labeled as a “100-Day IPA – Drink Fresh, Don’t Store” brew, and the bottle I found was dated April 27, and it was August 31 when I consumed this, so we’re closer to a full four months, it still tastes awesome. If you’re able to find a leftover straggler in your local bottle shop you should snag it for sure. Overall, another awesome submission.

<>BM