This year it seems I have completely skipped over pumpkin ales. At the point of this writing I have had 2 pumpkin ales and one sample. I am just not in the mood yet for one of them. But never fear, if you are not a fan of pumpkin or if you want something else, wet hopped beers are here.
So what are wet hops anyways? Borrowing from Chow.Com’s What Is Wet Hop Beer? Post:
“Hops are the seed cones of the plant species Humulus lupulus, and they’re actually very delicate flowers. They don’t survive long after being cut, which is why almost all hops are dried immediately after harvest, to preserve the valuable oils and resins that add so much savor and tang to beer. Most hops used by brewers are in this dried or pellet form. There was, however, an obscure European tradition of brewing a special seasonal beer with just-harvested green, a.k.a. “wet,” hops.”
One of the first wet hopped beers was from Sierra Nevada came out in the mid 90’s, and they have only been growing from there.
This year Sixpoint replaced Autumnation (which had been a pumpkin ale until last year, when they reinvented it as a wet hopped beer) with Sensi Harvest. As an interesting twist, Sensi is squarely a “session ale” coming in at 4.7% ABV.
Fresh is the best way to describe the taste, the hops are grassy and clean. Refreshing is the best way to say it. It is extremely balanced, a little malt peaking through, and no bitterness to speak of. It may be a bit light on the mouth feel, but given the ABV, that makes sense. I would not call it watered down or anything. I prefer it to last year’s Autumnation personally.
This is one of the best session style beers I have tried. I really wish you could have this all Summer in place of the session IPA’s out there.
