BeerBorg

...for lack of a better name for this beer at this point

I'm going to keg this over the weekend and mashani's recent post about his Steamed Nelson made me realize that I didn't post this one (for anybody that cares ). This is a new version of my Santa Cruz Spring Ale that I've brewed 5 times now. I'm chasing the flavor that I had in an APA/IPA at Lagunitas last year in their single-hopped Nelson beer that was AMAZING.

I've basically moved from a subtle NS presence to hopefully a punch-you-in-the-nuts-this-beer-is-NS-focused approach.

Recipe Specifications
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Batch Size (fermenter): 3.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.057 SG
Estimated Color: 6.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 57.9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type # %/IBU
5.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent 1 -
3.00 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 2 -
3 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (3.5 SRM) Grain 3 53.8 %
2 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 4 30.8 %
8.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 5 7.7 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 6 7.7 %
0.20 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 7 16.8 IBUs
1.00 Items Servomyces (Boil 10.0 mins) Other 8 -
0.25 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 3.3 IBUs
1.50 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpoo Hop 10 37.8 IBUs
1.2 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35. Yeast 11 -
2.00 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Da Hop 12 0.0 IBUs

Mashed at 152 for 60 minutes.
Pitched at 68 and held it there for 5 days before ramping up to 70 for 2 days. Dropped back to 68 and added the dry hops for 3 days before cold crashing (as much as I can in my wine fridge). I'll keg and bottle a few over the weekend but expect a fair amount of trub since my fridge only gets down to about 42 and I don't have room in the kegerator to crash it down closer to 32. Oh well.

Fermentation was quick and clear (until the dry hops got added anyway). SG was 1.014 when I dry hopped which is where I expect it to finish, maybe a point or two more will drop in these last few days but I doubt it.

I'll let y'all know how it comes out. Sometimes just a little NS is enough but I've had a couple of other single-hopped APAs with nothing but NS with a prominent flavor and I've loved them so I have my fingers crossed here.

Looks like it should be very good.
I've got about 4 oz of NS that I'm saving for late and dry hop additions to a summer ale coming up in a few brews.

Sounds good. I love Anchor Humming when I can find it, and it's pretty much a Nelson bomb.

I remember you mentioning that. San Francisco is only 50 miles away but I don't think I've ever seen it locally. I'll do some searching around.

BevMo is a pretty larger retailer that has good selection - but a lot of their stuff sits around for a while so there is a balance of choice/freshness to consider.

I can tell you that every time I peep on the carboy I get a wonderful aroma!

I think the Humming is a fall seasonal beer, limited run. When its on shelves here it doesn't stay on them long.

Last I heard a couple years ago, they discontinued Humming in the US. I begged them to bring it back but they said there were no plans to do so. I pouted for awhile, then made my own which wasn’t exactly like theirs but it was surely a NS bomb and I loved it. My brudder kind of looked puzzled when he tasted it but he kept filling his glass, so I think he liked it too. You could taste the Sauvin grapes in there.

If that's true it would suck. I do know I never found any last year and was sad.

I guess I need to make my own now too.

I ended up working from home today so I was able to keg this after a 4-day cold crash.

Ended up with a solid 2.5G in the keg + a couple of bottles. Oh yeah, and a sh**load of trub!

Into the kegerator it goes. I'll put it on gas tonight after my blast of CO2 to seal the lid has time to equalize just a bit. I won't touch it this week and I'll be traveling next week so it should be ready to sample when I get back from that trip.

I posted a pic in the First Pour thread tonight.

It smells great and has a nice color - a bit hazy from the wheat and heavy dry hop. The taste is good, but it lacks a bit of bitterness. When I brew this again, I'll kick up the Magnum bittering addition a bit to give it some more balance. There's a bit of an after-taste I can't quite place yet. It doesn't taste like a flaw, I think it's from the NS heavy additions.

It's also a first pour, so it's possible I'm getting a few hop floaties, too.

I'll check in again after a few more. But I could smell this all night long...

Thanks for sending one of these my way.
It sure does pour hazy, but that's OK. The aroma is really good. Very fruity. I would agree that it lacks some bitterness, but really, I don't mind it so much. I would be afraid that too much bitterness would take away from the nice balanced flavor and aroma.

You mention an aftertaste, I'm not getting that at all in mine. To me, it's a nice smooth balanced beer. I could drink a few of these without any complaints.

Nice job!!

I just popped this as well as my only beer if the day.
Yes, a cloudy pour but a gorgeous head!
I've only used a small amount of Nelson Sauvin as a dry hop so I had no idea what to expect in taste.
Just a slight nose but a perfect carb.
I taste something I can't describe but not in a bad way. It's right at the end. Without looking at the recipe, I'd say it's the yeast I'm tasting since maybe it needs to clear a bit more.
A good, easy drinking beer for sure. I think I have done NS in the freezer that I will use in a pale ale in late and/or dry hop additions.
Well done Ron, as always, thanks for sharing.

Funny enough, I'm no longer getting the taste at the end now that I've pulled a number of pints but it was definitely there in the beginning. Maybe it was the yeast or maybe it was some floaties as I didn't get a great cold crash on this one. The haze is from the combination of the dry hop and the wheat, though.

Glad you likely.