The Bar Towel

This beer looked good at the store, so I bought 2. The bottle says it is a " 'wet hopped' beer.. has slight bitterness upfront and crisp hop finish."

I tried both bottles. The taste is not what I like. It tastes funky, almost sour. Has stray flavours that I am not used to picking up (i swear there is sweet gherkin pickle or something darn close to it). The aroma is fine, I'd say that the aroma is the one thing I like about it. But the initial flavour kind of turns me off, I don't like the beginning flavour, the middle is a bit sour, and the end is just not pleasant. Plain and simple, just not what I want in a beer. But then.... you put the beer down. You go about your business, and you find that your stomach is full of gas from the beer letting off it's carbonation, so you burp... and let me tell you.... the 'hop-burps' you get from this beer are fan-fudging-tastic! (And don't stand there and tell me you don't know what a 'hop-burp' is. You damn well know what they are, and some beers provide phenomenal ones, and you know it!). I couldn't believe how good they were, I went out and bought 2 more bottles.

Once again these are just my thoughts, if you can find a way to enjoy the flavour of this beer AND the hop-burps than I envy you! You are getting twice the enjoyment that I get from them, and I'm still buying the damn things!

Cheers!

this is another amazing seasonal from Amsterdam (second to Tempest, not talking about their Bock or Orange beer)

i'd compare it to Founders Harvest or Sierra Nevadas Northern Hemisphere. didnt get any off flavours as you described, just full on fresh hop blast all over the palate. dank nose too, exactly the type of IPA or pale ale i was looking for.

gonna grab a ton of these this fall, kudos Amsterdam for making such a great beer but also distributing it so well

"Hop burps," OK, now I've smelled everything.

You guys have got me buying at least one of these now. I love SNH. This is a good thing. Cheers.

Yeah I liked this too and am also a bit mystified by the off flavours Guy experienced. I didn't get any in mine. A big resiny, chewy, very fresh hop flavour in my experience. Only thing that surprised me was how light in colour it is for a harvest ale.

midlife crisis wrote:Yeah I liked this too and am also a bit mystified by the off flavours Guy experienced. I didn't get any in mine. A big resiny, chewy, very fresh hop flavour in my experience. Only thing that surprised me was how light in colour it is for a harvest ale.

I think these wet hop harvest ales are just more susceptible to spoiling than the other beers we buy. It takes 5-7 times the amount of wet hops to get the same bittering as dried hops so the extra compounds in the beer may cause it to spoil quicker than usual if mishandled by the store and placed in direct sunlight for example.

The bottle of Muskoka Harvest Ale I got was oxidized beyond recognition and tasted of that typical wet cardboard.

Didn't notice any of the off flavours that others noted. I thought this was juicy and floral, and found the finish more bitter than I expected - It drank like an IPA to me.

By comparison, while the Nickelbrook wet hop is pretty solid, it's quite a bit more delicate and subtle - even lighter than Amsterdam, and a seems a bit watery, but the nose is very fruity and floral. It's quite quaffable, though, and might be great if we have any more sunny hot days.

This one is also quite "Britishy", due probably to the use of those Ontario Bertwell hops from that farm in Guelph - if you want to see how that hop really tastes, this is a great opportunity.

And while I prefer the Amsterdam, the Nickelbrook is certainly worth a try at 7 bucks for 750mls - but try it soon!

Good wet hop ales are just great. It's so nice to have a beer that's a seasonal treat that has as short a shelf-life as some of the crops that we're eating.

JeffPorter wrote:[...]the Nickelbrook wet hop[...]

Jeff, has this hit the LCBO shelves yet, or did you grab it from te brewery? Really looking forward to this one while the days remain warm...

Incidentally, I was out at Barley Days yesterday and grabbed a bunch of their County IPA (brewed with wet PEC hops), and it's drinking mighty fine, as is their core lineup. Bummer that they still suffer from the stigma of the disastrous Trafalgar-esque Glenora Springs days; their brews are solid.

velovampire wrote:

JeffPorter wrote:[...]the Nickelbrook wet hop[...]

Jeff, has this hit the LCBO shelves yet, or did you grab it from te brewery? Really looking forward to this one while the days remain warm...

Incidentally, I was out at Barley Days yesterday and grabbed a bunch of their County IPA (brewed with wet PEC hops), and it's drinking mighty fine, as is their core lineup. Bummer that they still suffer from the stigma of the disastrous Trafalgar-esque Glenora Springs days; their brews are solid.

Just hit the shelves...Haven't had county IPA in a while, but I do remember it being quite solid.