Review: Nickel Brook Ontario Wet Hop Pale Ale

I think that Autumn '17 has been one of the best years for Fresh Hopped beers, in fact - I think there's at least five of them available at the LC here in Manitoba. One of the first ones to sell out near immediately was Nickel Brook Brewing's Ontario Wet Hop Pale Ale. Well, this was canned a month and half ago so I wouldn't consider it fresh, but it's certainly still a lot fresher than most IPAs available in this neck of the woods - I see some dating back to the spring.. and IPAs tend to sell well here! Nickel Brook's Headstock IPA sells really well here, so I wasn't surprised to see that their Ontario Wet Hop to sell out immediately at my local LC. 

Ontario Wet Hop Pale Ale is made with freshly picked hops from Ontario - Cascade, Chinook and Centennial. 

Appearance: The beer pours a bright yet incredibly cloudy straw/orange body with a good amount of carbonation, and a decent amount of off-white foam on top.

Aroma: The trio of hops are popping out all at the same time - I get pine, floral, citrus, and a light amount of spice profile. Fairly sweet, with a hint of pineapple creeping up into my nostrils once in a while. There's notes that remind me a bit of potpourri in there, and a hint of spruce at the end.

Taste: This is slightly spicy with a light tropical sweetness from the hops (hint of pineapple and lemon), a mild amount of pine for bitterness, some sort of herbal note that I can't put my finger on.. 

This is fairly easy to drink, and surprisingly not overly bitter. 

Overall Thoughts: This beer was pretty straight forward, fairly tropical yet not over the top like you see with NE IPAs, but still had a good hop presence anyways. There was a moderate amount of caramel sweetness as well. Drinking this on its own without reviewing it, it wasn't really memorable.. but now that I'm paying attention to it, this is solid, easy to drink, and a good alternative to their Headstock IPA for the times when you want a more toned-down IPA and not a full on hop bomb. Also, can't forget the herbalness of this beer.. but I don't know what it is! 

https://nickelbrook.com/our-beers/seasonal-beers/wet-hop/