Harvest Ale
Court Avenue Brewing Company

Blurry apricot that became bright orange, then bright lemon, as the eye traveled downward to the tapering bottom of the stemmed glass. A thin layer of khaki colored foam was nearly gone by the two minute mark. What remained deposited a thin, ripped veil of lace on the opposite side of the glass.

I loved the intensely pungent nose instantly. The secret to this beer's success is Summit hops, an under appreciated, underutilized variety that delivers tremendous, tropical fruit salad-like aromas and flavors (see below). Actually, the true secret to its success is that Harvest Ale is 'Iowa's first wet-hopped beer'. Whatever it cost to overnight all 100 pounds of little green cones from Washington state was well worth it.

I don't believe I've ever had a single-hopped, Summit-hopped APA prior to today. This bad boy can stand toe-to-toe with Centennial, Columbus, Amarillo, Simcoe and all the rest. The flavor profile was a gorgeous conflagration of orange rind, pink grapefruit, passionfruit and mango. This is the tropical fruitiest hop in the world, hands down. The flavor was more explosive than the bitterness (like all good fresh hop beer), but those alpha acids added up in hurry.

The beer was able to reach a whole 'nother gear because of what else was present. It was a flavor (of sorts) that was perfect for the season. Harvest Ale also had an intriguing, earthy, herbal, toasted bready, woodsy, smoldering leafiness that put me in mind of bright, crisp autumn afternoons... which is exactly when I was drinking it. What a well-crafted ale.

The mouthfeel was closer to medium than to light, with a lightly sticky clinginess on the finish. While I would have preferred more creaminess and slightly less carbonation overall, it wasn't far from very good. If I hadn't drained the glass so fast, I might have gotten my wish.

Harvest Ale is a rousing success. I hope it gives the brewer impetus to do this whole 'wet hop' thing again. There's no doubt in my mind that I have just had the best beer in Court Avenue's history and one of the best beers in Iowa brewpub history. Top-5 at least.