Upland Harvest Ale

Discussion in 'Great Lakes' started by Beric, Oct 26, 2013.

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  1. Beric

    Beric Initiate (0) Jun 1, 2013 Massachusetts

    Can we just sing it's praises for a moment? I think that Upland is sometimes unfairly criticized for it's brews, simply because it's "boring" ones are the most sold. Sure, Upland Wheat Ale and Dragonfly IPA are not great (even poor, if you ask me), but let's not unfairly penalize the whole brewery because of those two beers.

    Upland Harvest is different. It is really an exquisite beer. Upland Harvest is easily one of the best beers of the year to me, and I can't believe it's only rated an 86 here. I mean, to each it's own, but that beer is a sweet nectar of piney hops. Damn incredible APA if you ask me. Best Upland beer that is actually obtainable (unlike the sours).
     
    #1 Beric, Oct 26, 2013
  2. robboyd

    robboyd Initiate (0) Aug 7, 2011 Indiana

    I completely agree. It's a fantastic brew and is highly underrated IMO.
     
    #2 robboyd, Oct 27, 2013
  3. aasher

    aasher Grand Pooh-Bah (4,557) Jan 27, 2010 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    It's a Citra hopped pale that gets very little attention. I'm sure if they named dropped Citra it would get more looks.

    Nuthugger is pretty solid as well.
     
    #3 aasher, Oct 27, 2013
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  4. robwestcott

    robwestcott Pooh-Bah (1,767) Nov 3, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    +1 to nuthugger. And shame on me for not yet buying a 6er of the harvest.
     
    #4 robwestcott, Oct 27, 2013
  5. Beric

    Beric Initiate (0) Jun 1, 2013 Massachusetts

    Nuthugger has some great bottle art.
     
    #5 Beric, Oct 27, 2013
  6. eyeenjoybeer

    eyeenjoybeer Initiate (0) Feb 18, 2011 Seychelles

    I had harvest on tap at Upland and it tasted pretty bad compared to what was in the bottle. Consistency is one of the key problems I have with Upland. I never understood going to the brewery, ordering a dragonfly that was coming out of tanks mere feet away from me, and it tasting like very faded hops. Bottles are all over the place as well.
     
    #6 eyeenjoybeer, Oct 27, 2013
  7. Beric

    Beric Initiate (0) Jun 1, 2013 Massachusetts


    Interesting. I had Harvest on tap yesterday right from the production brewery on the west side of Bloomington and it was sublime. I bought a sixer so we'll see how it compares coming out of bottles compared to on-tap.

    I think that the problem you mentioned with Dragonfly is not so much batch inconsistency, but just that Dragonfly is a consistently bad beer. Dragonfly and Upland Wheat Ale are probably the two worst Upland beers I've tried and I wouldn't drop a penny on either of them.
     
    #7 Beric, Oct 27, 2013
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  8. eyeenjoybeer

    eyeenjoybeer Initiate (0) Feb 18, 2011 Seychelles

    I say batch inconsistency. I have had D-fly taste fine at the brewery (11th St) and out of the bottle. That is just not always the case, though. I should see how Harvest is at the westside facility for comparison. Anyone want to meet me over there for research purposes just let me know.
     
    #8 eyeenjoybeer, Oct 27, 2013
  9. robwestcott

    robwestcott Pooh-Bah (1,767) Nov 3, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    that's actually a pretty cool idea. would they let us bring in bottles to side by side ? i'm guessing not.

    like - "yeah, hi, we're here to research batch inconsistency as well as inconsistency between your taps and bottles. you cool with that ? we'd like to set up right over there."

    awesome.
     
    #9 robwestcott, Oct 27, 2013
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  10. Beric

    Beric Initiate (0) Jun 1, 2013 Massachusetts


    Yeah I can't imagine them saying that'd be cool. I can say though that the Harvest ale there yesterday was great.

    I'm having a bottle tonight and I'll report back to you guys. There's no bottling date but the beer was just released earlier this month, so it can't be more than 5 weeks old at the oldest.

    But if you guys have never been to the production brewery I'd go there. I did a tour and they're willing to get beery with you- rather than the whole boring old "beer is hops and malt and water and yeast, cool?" tour we ended up talking specific hop varieties, and the relationships between SG and ABV, and other more brew-science stuff compared to other tours I've been on hosted by the big guys (Budweiser and Heineken).

    Best part though- it's a free tour and they give you free samples of whatever's on tap when it's over. :grinning:
     
    #10 Beric, Oct 27, 2013
  11. ravot

    ravot Initiate (0) Mar 20, 2012 Illinois

    picked up my sours yesterday afternoon. harvest ale, first time having it, was indeed really good.
     
    #11 ravot, Oct 27, 2013
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  12. Beric

    Beric Initiate (0) Jun 1, 2013 Massachusetts

    The verdict is in- the bottled Harvest Ale I picked up at the production brewery is just as good as on tap. What an incredible beer- amazing hop profile of big, green, piney hops on a great malt backbone. Good carbonation too. No off flavors.

    Damn is this good.
     
    #12 Beric, Oct 28, 2013
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  13. Naptown25rs

    Naptown25rs Devotee (378) Apr 11, 2009 Indiana
    Trader

    I drank one on draft earlier this evening to wash down some wings, and as much as I'd like to, I can't knock it... It's a very solid beer.

    I'll spare you all the $250 buy-in jokes...
     
    #13 Naptown25rs, Oct 28, 2013
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  14. Gunslinger711

    Gunslinger711 Zealot (663) Apr 16, 2010 Indiana

    Had a growler of Harvest Ale last weekend and killed it between three people, thumbs up. Picked up my sours this weekend and had some solid Dragonfly on tap but I agree sometimes it's spotty but I'll chalk half of that up to unclean taps or bottles left out too long.
     
    #14 Gunslinger711, Oct 28, 2013
  15. AMG55

    AMG55 Initiate (0) Sep 10, 2013 Indiana

    I traded for some last week with a local guy I know. Never really cared for Dragonfly IPA, I thought their Double Dragonfly IIPA is a better offering.

    This harvest ale from them is very underrated. It's really, really good. Citra is one of my favorite hops and this is a very well done IPA.

    I will definitely have to compare it to Founder's Harvest Ale when I get that too.
     
    #15 AMG55, Oct 29, 2013
  16. fredmugs

    fredmugs Initiate (0) Aug 11, 2012 Indiana

    I had it at the main brewery as well and although it was surprisingly good for Upland I wouldn't seek it out again. Especially when there's Founders, Broo Doo, and Northern Hemisphere available. Concur on Nuthugger.
     
    #16 fredmugs, Oct 29, 2013
  17. AstronautMikeDexter

    AstronautMikeDexter Initiate (0) Feb 14, 2013 Indiana

    I love citra hops, but I found this one very underwhelming.

    I'll give it another shot though. I was underwhelmed by Fat Head's Headhunter the first time I tried it and have since found the gross error of my initial reaction.
     
    #17 AstronautMikeDexter, Oct 29, 2013
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  18. robboyd

    robboyd Initiate (0) Aug 7, 2011 Indiana

    I'm going to go ahead and say it. Fresh Headhunter is as good as Heady Topper and Pliny. I'm also glad it doesn't get the hype because I'd like to continue being able find it with no problems. I too however was not sold on my first try, maybe due to bottle age, which was unknown.

    I'll also say that Upland Harvest, in my opinion, has been my favorite fresh hopped beer the last two years running, including BrooDoo, Founders Harvest, and anything from the west coast that makes it to Indiana.
     
    #18 robboyd, Nov 1, 2013
  19. myersk27

    myersk27 Initiate (0) Oct 21, 2011 Indiana

    I'm with you. Head Hunter is phenomenal. Just wish we could get more fresh shipments of it. All I am seeing is the august batch still...
     
    #19 myersk27, Nov 1, 2013
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  20. Gunslinger711

    Gunslinger711 Zealot (663) Apr 16, 2010 Indiana

    Drank Headhunter all throughout my beer-cation in Ohio and was not disappointed.
     
    #20 Gunslinger711, Nov 1, 2013
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