What’s up folks?  It’s time for another craft beer review and today I’m going to be trying the Southern Hemisphere Harvest brewed by the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company located in Chico, California.

I’ve had these Harvest beers in the past, but it’s been a while, so I’m really looking forward to trying this one.

From the website, sierranevada.com, I found this description of the beer.

Featuring fresh-picked New Zealand hops, shipped straight from the Southern Hemisphere.

In 2008, we launched the southern counterpart to our popular Harvest Ale, featuring fresh hops picked, dried and shipped from New Zealand within seven days of the fields. Southern Hemisphere is a south-by-north fusion that showcases the intriguing floral and herbal flavors and aromas of New Zealand-grown Southern Cross, Pacifica and Motueka hops.

Sounds good enough to me.  Let’s pour.

This 6.7% ABV beer poured from a 25.4 oz. bottle.

It discharged a dark caramel to almost amber color.  The head was off white, soft, fluffy, semi-rocky and sized very well.  The retention time was excellent and the lacing looked nice too.  Some foam stuck around for the duration of the drink.

I thought it had a somewhat muted nose.  I did discover some floral tones along with a few hints of grapefruit citrus.  A solid caramel malt and some herbal fragrances followed.  I can’t say that I thought that the aroma was anything too outstanding, but it was balanced fairly well.

The flavor was semi-bitter with undertones of caramel.  Some breadiness was to be had and I also discovered some savors of a leafy nature combined with some kind of underlying spice.  The hops were either a lot weaker than I remember or they had faded considerably, which surprised me because I grabbed this bottle and drank it about 2 weeks after it was released.

The mouthfeel was medium bodied.  It was smooth, slick and dry.  The carbonation was of medium strength as well, plus an ok amount of flavor was left behind after each gulp.

Well, overall I think this is a nice beer.  It’s just not as potent as I remember it being.  As I mentioned earlier, I think the hops were a bit subdued or something.  It was a very easy drink and I’ll probably grab another bottle next year, but I doubt that I go out of my way to find it.  Did you guys try this years Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest?  What did you think about it?  Feel free to leave a comment if you’d like.

Thanks for reading everyone.  I really appreciate it.

Until next time.  Cheers.

Score:  3.6 out of 5

Grade:  B