Part of my series on neomexicanus hops.

In my last post about neomexicanus hops I noted that Sierra Nevada recently released an IPA made solely from (almost the entire worldwide crop of) neomexicanus titled Harvest Wild Hop IPA: Neomexicanus Varietal as the final release in this year’s Harvest series. Since publishing that post have made it my personal goal to search every bottle shop in San Diego until I found some to try; it took me nearly three weeks, but I finally found my white whale. This blog is usually not a place where I review commercial beers, but since this beer is the closest many folks will come to trying this new variety I am making an exception.

Details

Style: IPA
Description: A few years back, we caught wind of rogue hop heads in the Southwest who began collecting some of the wild hops they found while scrambling down hillsides near their home in New Mexico. These bizarre, multi-headed, native U.S. cones have a flavor like nothing we’ve tasted, and for the first time, we’re showcasing their unusual melon, apricot and citrus aromas and flavors in our beer. Neomexicanus is the literal wild card in our five-bottle Harvest series which features single hop, fresh hop, wet hop, and wild hop beers.
Neomexicanus Variety: While not explicitly stated, the “multi-headed” variety they are referring to is likely Medusa.
Malt: 2-row Pale, Caramel [60?]
IBUs: 55
ABV: 6.5%
Availability: Nationwide in December/January.
Reviews: RateBeer | BeerAdvocate | Untappd

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