Nelson Ha Ha
Franklin's Restaurant, Brewery & General Store

 

Beer on draft at Franklin's pub, served in a shaker pint glass. Beer is yellow with a mild hazy (unfiltered) with a thin white head that leaves some lacing on the glass, carbonation appears moderate to low, head eventually breaks and pulls toward the glass. Looks like beer.

Aroma is excellent. It's 100% hops, fruity, citrusy, nelson hops. The aroma is quite in your face and I find it quite pleasing.

Beer is medium in body and leads off a little thin. The midpalate is very hoppy, with this earthiness to the beer that fills out the body a lot, minimal carbonation on the palate too. The finish isn't too dry and this beer is quite drinkable. I enjoyed it a lot.

An unfiltered pale ale brewed with Nelson hops, the new seasonal from Franklin's.

Surprisingly clear for an unfiltered beer, this is yellow with a thin white head that recedes to a disk, leaving a little bit of lace. The nose is simply wonderful. I've only had a few Nelson-exclusive beers (Alpine's Nelson and the Mikkeller Single Hop Nelson), but this is still unique. Mildly grape-like, but not intensely so, this has a great blend of aromas. Fresh cut grapefruit, a mild kaffir-lime leaf, a mild green, grassy hop flavor, this is rather explosive.

The palate is similar, opening with a beautiful blend of ripe lemons and grapefruit. This combination is wonderful, and in some ways, almost gueuze-like. Hop flavor quite high pretty high here, but there's just that perfect amount of grapefruit bitterness to make this completely enjoyable. The malt character is non-existent here, the only sweetness I can taste are from the hops. Drying on the finish with a little bit of resin and some grapefruit, this really does make me think of a gueuze. I can only ding this, and mildly, for a mild grassiness that does take away from the wonderful fruitiness that this beer has. Carbonation is medium-high, spot on for the style. Truly refreshing, if this wasn't my lunch break, I'd have had another pint.