Hail, Hail the Harvest

Autumn's undisputed beer celebration, Oktoberfest, overshadows the reason for the season. But for all the foreigners that clog Munich's beer halls, workers elsewhere cull bushels of hops that make the beer world turn.

The beers below have little in common aside from the harvest angle - aside from quality and spotlight on fresh hops.

Sierra Nevada Harvest 2007 Fresh Hop Ale
Compare cooking with fresh herbs to dried ones, and the cook's choice will determine the taste. By nature, Sierra Nevada Harvest is an impermanent beer, relegated to the harvest season. Now in its 11th year (this is my first sampling), it once again proves that craft brewing can open avenues beyond doubling hops or tripling malt recipes.

Fresh hops radiate a nose foreign even to the beer snob - grassy, highly herbal and an oiliness rare for beer. Harvest recalls passion fruit with a gentle woodiness and a little wild berry. While the bullish malty aftertaste endemic to all Sierra Nevada brews closes out the Harvest, its aromas stand in stark opposition to most beers. Sierra Nevada created a powerful, earthy ale certain to confound beer lovers with its once-a-year availability. Rating: 9/10



Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner
On February's Munich vacation, we drove through the Hallertau region, where only the wire and metal harnesses indicated hops grew here in balmier seasons. Samuel Adams founder Jim Koch travels there at peak time, and this lager results from the love affair with Hallertau's famous crop.

What a nose - a brisk yet well-rounded citrus bouquet erupts from the glass. The thin yet creamy head gives little ground, while grainy scent emerges (With all those hops involved? Really?). In scent and taste, the citrus flavors run from orange to mild lemon to a grapefruit tartness on the back end. Near the finish the high alcohol content (8.8 percent ABV) unveils itself, as does a burnt spiciness and a final chalky malted shove of flavor. Purposely overhopped, this mighty lager never wavers in its balancing act.

Imperial pilsners are on the move in the American craft brewing industry, and as usual, Koch and company brew ahead of the curve.

Rating: 8/10