Sierra Nevada Harvest Wild Hop IPA - Neomexicanus

Sierra Nevada Harvest Wild Hop IPA - Neomexicanus

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.



From time to time, we find a single hop varietal that is so unique, we just have to brew a beer to honor it. This version uses a hop native to the U.S. called Neomexicanus FZMR2. We lovingly call it “Frank Zappa” and like the man, its flavors are wild, and tangy with a little bit of edge.
3.7
188 reviews
Chico, United States

Community reviews

3.9 Tropical fruity aromas, green melon. Clear orange-gold with a mostly lasting white head. A very interesting hop profile, earthy, lightly fruity, tropical, citrusy. Medium bodied.
3.4 pours bright orange with a small white head and great lacing. Nose is sort of wierd. Lots of cheese woody notes and lots of floral and herbal notes. Flavors are cheese floral lite pine but doesn’t have the pine I was expecting. Tbis hop is wierd- has the cheese and floral notes of say simcoe with the herbal qualities of fresh cascade or citra. Long woody andbsligbyly sweet finish
3.6 Pours a foamy head and a golden color, strong carb. Aroma is perfumy, kind a pungent with citrus.There is some weird melon kind of minty/herbal. Maybe even dank onion/garlic. Same in taste with light sweetnes, dry malts, minty herbal pine bitter. Has some peachy melon. Fairly dry and bitter.
3.5 Draft - Light apricot and leafy hop. Clear gold with a nice white head. Sweet, bitter hops with a tea like note. Long nice bitter finish. Nice.
3.8 bottle. this proved to be a real surprise. generally not a huge fan of Sierra beers, but this was excellent!
2.6 A completely average IPA; pretty much Sierra Nevada’s normal IPA - which is not a bad IPA but I was expecting more out of this. At 6% alcohol, I would have thought it might have a bit more body, color and aroma but it really doesn’t. If you prefer a lighter mid-range alcohol IPA, this might work for you.
3.4 500mL bottle shared by Chalumeaux. Thanks, TJ! Dated 11/20/15. Pours orange gilden with an off white head. Aroma is dank, grassy, a hint of orange citrus. Flavor is caramel, a hint of orange, then grassy bitterness and lemon citrus in the finish.
3.6 Poured from bottle dated 11/20/15 hazy orange pour with a nice one finger head. Aromas of grapefruit melon and citrus resin. Taste is decent and follows aroma with notes of bitter grass. Interesting.
3.5 Bottle thanks to T.J. hard to read the date, perhaps late 11/ 2015. Orange in color with thin bubbly head in a chalice. Aroma shows me fresh cut grass, dandelion weeds, mild citrus. The flavor reflects the aromas. Very grassy with a herbal bitterness with a pretty decent malt body. Mouthfeel is in the medium range with a dry texture. Overall slightly different hop profile and decent drinkablity.
3.9 Draft at Bricks. Pours clear dark golden with decent white head and lacing. Nose and taste are citrus and melon. Almost a lager twang in the flavor.
4.3 Location: Bottle from Hoboken Vine, 1/8/16 Aroma: The aroma is fairly fruity, melon comes through strong with some apricot and peach notes Appearance: It pours a clear orange color with a lush, foamy off-white head and heavy lacing Flavor: Fruity and somewhat bitter on the flavor as well, almost like underripened fruit Palate: Very smooth and clean on the mouth, the dryness really builds through a long finish Overall Impression: Very interesting beer. It builds from a sweet melon and drupe type of aroma and early flavor into a bitter, dry IPA. Really progresses interestingly on the palate as the sweetness makes way for the dryness to build. Its somehow subtle, clean, and complex all at once, and the more I drink of it the more I like it.
3.7 Nice grapefruit nose with some melon and a slight smokiness as it warms up and breathes. Bitter with a moderate maltiness. Alas, the hop flavor is just bitter without a noble hop flavor--it doesn’t live up to the promise of that wonderful aroma. A bit of harshness in the finish. A very good IPA, but not an all-time great.
4.4 Hazy orange with creamy head. Light body. Candy sweet followed by lots of apricot, mild citrus, melon. These hops are really lovely. Best Sierra beer I've had.
4.2 24 oz bottle- Pours hazy golden orange with a nice creamy white head and cobwebby lace. Aroma is sweet, light spices, fruity, all fairly subdued but appealing. The taste is fruity, melon and mango, piney, dry yet sweet malt finish with a bitterness that lingers. Like the hop profile here, very good.
3.9 24oz bomber. Pours clear golden amber color with an off-white head. Aroma is fruity, apricots, citrus with some malty sweetness. Taste is fruity hops, melon, citrus, grapefruit. Some bread and a bit of honey and it ends with dry and nicely bitter. Medium body, well carbonated...good stuff!
3.7 This is a great beer. Really nice hops aroma and flavor. The body is mild, not too sweet, and focuses nicely on the hops. A little spice but mostly clean, light fruit flavors.
3.9 Pours a clear golden orange on tap with fluffy white head that dissipates to leave moderate lace. Aroma and taste of dank, resinous hops, like a really piney weed. Bittersweet finish with a good malt presence, really nice IPA.
4.0 On tap on New Year’s Eve in the NC Sierra Nevada Taproom. Clear bamber body topped by a fine head that has excellent retention and leaves sheets of lacing. Aroma: tropical fruits and faint bread Flavor: the aroma is nice but didn’t prepare me for the complexity, fruitiness or strength of the flavor. This is a really nice hop variety put to excellent use! Feel: Near medium body and medium carbonation. Overall: fine example of a style that is not one of my favorites.
4.2 Golden with a touch of amber and a light white head. Aroma is hoppy with notes of tropical fruits. Flavor is bright and hoppy with the above notes of tropical fruit. Very light malt with a mildly sweet finish.
3.7 On tap at Coles in Buffalo, NY. Brown-ish pour, slightly red-tinged. Had a bit of a hop feel but not as sharply-hopped as I’d have expected. The term "unusual melon" convinced me to get it but I didn’t really get that vibe. Nice beer but nothing special.
4.1 Bottle - I typically don’t like IPAs, because I’m not fond of bitter bombs, but this one is nicely balanced. It has just enough bitterness to make it interesting, with a flavorful piney lemongrass. Very nice!!
4.0 Bottle from Sierra Nevada Mills River. Pours orange with a thick white head. Leaves a lot of lacing in the glass. Nice citrus notes on the nose. Big citrus on the tongue. Very flavorful on the tongue without a ton of bitterness on the finish. Very nice!
3.7 24 ounce bottle from Costco. Pours a clear golden hue with a large white head. A funky fruity hop nose. Pretty mellow, really a funky sort of cheesy hop bite, citrus, lemons. Slightly bitter. Quite nice. Simple. Accessible.
4.1 24 oz bottle. Aroma consists of garlic, pine, latex, raspberry jam. Pours slightly hazy old gold with a thick pillowy head with excellent retention and lots of soapy lace. Taste is fairly bitter backed by a candy sweetness. Interesting and tasty.
3.7 Pours a golden yellow color with a white head. Apricot, melon, grapefruit, floral, herb and biscuit aroma. Melon, apricot, peach, orange, floral and biscuit flavors. Medium body and carbonation with a melon and biscuit finish. Very similar to most of the other harvest beers but a bit more juicy.
3.7 Sampled January 2015 A steady pour into my globe glass produces a two-finger thick, light tan colored head that leaves some light lacing on the sides of my glass. The beer is an amber / copper color that shows a touch of haze a golden tinged hue when held op to the light. The aroma smells grassy with some green herbal notes to it, along with a citrusy, perhaps lemon leaning character. As I dig in more some more rounded, marmalade citrus zest notes, and some grapefruit zest become noticeable. The citrus character has a wild, slightly dank quality to it, even a peppery, spicy note. The flavor is fully hoppy, in an aggressive, dank, herbal, and citrus way. Nicely bitter,and this is accentuated by an astringent, green hoppy character. This has a definite quaffable quality to it, it has a nice light viscosity, and enough palate stickiness to play well with the aggressive hop character. Hop flavors of grapefruit zest, curacao orange zest, lemon-sage, woody pepper, Some nice clean melon notes, and even some apricot character. This wasn’t nearly as raw and agressive as I was expecting this to be, it is a lot more refined and citrus / fruity than I was expecting from a wild hop, though this certainly has a wild edge to it. This is quite enjoyable and worth any hop-heads time and attention.
3.3 Tap at Sheffield’s in the Beer School part. Tulip glass. An unfiltered, hazy amber or light mahogany color. Tan like head about a quarter finger in size. Aroma is hop centric but seems pretty mild. This tastes very similar to other Sierra Nevada beers...they don’t aim or succeed at adding levels of complexity. Some malt presence blends pretty effectively with piney hops. Understated flavor profile with an ending that disappoints. Harvest is pretty weak this year.
3.3 Large white head, rocky with good retention and lacing. Fairly hazy gold hued Ale, bubbles rising. Mild nose, grass, earth and slight malts. Body is medium, soft carbonation, tad oily.Fairly dry malts, some grass, light spices, citrus woodyyyy somewhat, green , hint of onions. Tame ass bitterness. Fairly mediocre. Bomber from statelineliquors.
4.3 24 ounce bottle. Pours a hazy amber orange with a large rocky beige head. Fragrant citrus hop aroma winth notes of melon and basil. Sweet caramel malt upfront with spicy notes of cinnamon and melon. The bittersweet hops come through in midtaste. Complex and spicy with notes of black pepper, tropical fruit and ancillary bean. Finish is sweet, spicy and bitter. Clinging lace start to finish. Just spectacular.
4.3 The usual excellence in execution when it comes to foam, retention, and lacing for SN. A medium gold and clear liquid sits beneath. Very hoppy aromas of citrus and melon with a sweet malt presence. Tastes delicious. Plenty of citrus and melon with apricots thrown in for good measure. It isn’t overly bitter due to a solid malt backbone. Smooth mouthfeel rounds out all of the good features that I Mentioned above. 6 months old this bottle is and I yearn for more of the same!