Sierra Nevada 'Northern Hemisphere Harvest' 2012

The other day I got a little paranoid about freshness of hops, probably ably assisted (if that's the right word) by the lovely folks over at Aleheads.  I have a tendency to end up with lots of IPA knocking about and really ought to get them drunk. I know, it's such a chore. The paranoia is not helped by codes rather than 'born on' or 'best before' dates. Although at least with this one you know roughly when it was made I guess, what with it being the name of the beer.

Anyway, to stop myself lying awake at night worrying about the ticking away of the glorious hop flavours in my cellar I thought I'd get this down me.

As if to reassure me from the off, it pours a beautiful burnt orange colour, and rather than the attacking hoppy nose I was half expecting from an American IPA at this strength (6.7%) it was actually quite restrained, more fruit (mango and passion fruit) than pine and pot. On the palate? Well if the name 'Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Wet Hop Ale 2012' is a mouthful then I suppose that reflects the beer. The tropical fruit aromas don't sink into a fug of sweetness; there's a crisp grapefruit pith note to balance the sweeter fruit in there, allowing the malt to come to the party and give the beer some weight. The finish is clean, bitter-sweet and suitably moreish. For me this is really a great beer, nothing too overdone, allowing complex rather than shouty flavours. Try it young and fresh. I think.

But hang on, what if I actually quite like the hops to be a bit more mellowed with age? I won't sleep easy until the next IPA fix now, wondering if my next bottle might not be quite mature enough.

6.7% abv. £5.88 (71cl) from Beer Ritz.

Odell IPA

Caution: Contains Wine Tangent.

Decent New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc can be a great wine to use as a starting point to get people into tasting wine properly. It usually has loads of accessible tropical fruit flavours, making it very drinkable, and more often than not it has a characteristic gooseberry flavour that can easily be identified when you come back to it. When I run wine classes it therefore becomes a useful tool to get over that barrier of 'all white wine tasting the same' or 'I can never pick out any of these flavours/aromas that people go on about.' This has also lead to it being hugely successful.

Why the wine spiel? Well, it occurred to me that something like this Odell IPA has certain characteristics in common with Kiwi Sauvignon. It's not so extreme as to be unpalatable to your average lager drinker, but still has a kick of hops that once you said to someone 'this is what hops can do' they'd experience that moment of revelation and rush down the street shouting 'eureka!' Well, perhaps not, but hopefully you see my point. Lots of zesty orange on the nose and palate, with tropical fruit and a mouth-watering bitterness (similar to the acidity that's so important in a good white wine) and a lovely smooth, not over-carbonated texture which makes it both mellow and moreish. Good enough to fall in love with? Well it has been suggested (with thanks to Boak & Bailey).

7.0%. £2.99 (355ml) from Beers of Europe.