Nelson Survin
To Øl

 

 

its weird that even on tap, this tastes old to me, oxidized and way past its prime, i cant imagine it supposed to taste like this, reminds me of some of the old warm shelf mikkeller ipa types i used to find and take excited chances on, wet cardboard, some danish sort of ale yeast or whatever they use, and the bitterness really being about all that remains of the hops. on tap at goed zuur, which has a real attention to quality, so maybe just an old keg somehow, if you didnt tell me there was nelson hops in here, i might not have been able to pick them out, which really is a testament to how off this is, it doesnt live up to its namesake very well at all. orange in color, hazy but heady, and emitting a slightly sweet and slightly stale grain base with canned pineapple and vegetal bitterness, none of the bright white wine and tropical fruitiness i like in the nelson hops so much, and also a weird sourness in both aroma and flavor. lactic and a little funky, a saison element, and ipa bitterness through all of it, oddly not that flavorful from the hops, that aspect really lets me down. smooth in feel but its kind of too late to save it. old hops, bitterness, heavy cereal grains, and a little sourness, its a strange mix, and to me quite obviously not what it once was. i hope to try this again fresh sometime as i am a huge lover of nelson hops, but if not here on tap, then where?! the first miss from these guys in awhile...

 

 

 

Poured from a 11.2 oz bottle dated 2/6/18 into the test glass.
A - Red cedar, reddish tan colored, murky backdrop hides a refined carbonation. The initial cap is loose knit and off white. Residual froth clings to the glass wall in topographic forms.
S - Candied tropical fruits, apricot marmalade, apple cider vinegar, persimmon. With a temperature increase the alcohol does waltz in.
T - That sour cider vinegar element is strong with this one. Concentrated fruit oils include some guava, pineapple, and lots of orange. The sour side of the offering enhances some of these, A bit of phenol, is in there but not offensive.
M - Thick and coating, the offering is a bit slick, Palate response is like a pendulum sweet, then sour, the oily then dry.
The finish has a surprising bitter edge.
Interesting ride. The body is medium to heavy, which I find compelling considering this is listed as a sour mash method.
O - Complex offering that one needs time with, Initially I was put off, with that requisite time spent I have grown to appreciate the offering, The Nelson adds quite a bit of fruit, the base beer is a strong, heavy lift. I hope to find one that is not at the end of its "best by" date to compare.

From detustasur. In Teku glass. Watching Stranger Things 2x4-05. With caña lomo. Peculiar mix of tropical fruits, toffe and a strong white wine vinegar sourness. Original but at times it becomes hard to repeat

 

Me gustó mucho. Una cerveza diferente. El aroma te hace falta esperar una IPA tradicional pero cuando la saboreas te sorprende por completo. El cuerpo es medio con final casi seco. Muy fácil de tomar. No se siente el 9% de alcohol en aroma ni sabor.

A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 2nd June 2018. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.

Appearance: A murky cloudy orange brown colour with a one finger beige head that had decent retention and some lacing.

Aroma: White wine, grape, apple, lemon and orange.

Taste: Sour, tart, pineapple, apricot, white wine, grapes, apple cider vinegar, grapefruit zest and some light funk.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to low carbonation with some alcohol coming through.

Overall: This didn’t really come together for me. The sourness just felt like it was missing something and there was just a bit too much alcohol showing for the style… although granted, it is 9% ABV.

330ml bottle - a sour DIPA made with Nelson Sauvin hops - ok, I'll bite.

This beer pours a murky, dark apricot amber colour, with two fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and fizzy beige head, which leaves a bit of decaying limestone arch lace around the glass as it quickly abates.

It smells of musty yeast, orange and red grapefruit flesh, bready caramel malt, dried toffee candies, sugary and floral white wine, juicy red berries, and a funky sourness that is more fermenting grapes, than farmhouse in its bearing. The taste is gritty and grainy caramel malt, some yeasty tartness, muddled domestic and tropical citrus, more dark berry fruitiness, zingy white wine, still fruit-oriented funk, and a bit of leafy, floral, and piney green hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite laid-back in its barely palpable at times frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and sort of smooth, as the hops and the sour fruitiness have their way with my softer palate. It finishes off-dry, just, as the malt considers fully giving in to the lingering morass of hop, tart and sour fruit, and yup, wowee sauce acridity.

Overall, this was more enjoyable than I was anticipating, likely due to the genial and otherwise awesome nature of the Nelson Sauvin hop. Whatever it was that restrained the sourness here to the fruity version, made this one work for me - although it is obviously not the same thing as putting back a bloody straightforward DIPA, now, is it?

Bottle from The Cannibal in LA - poured into a tulip - Pretty solid - drinks like an imperial berliner weisse or similar - decent body, decent nose - super quaffable for the ABV, not super sour. Apricot on the first, then fluffy hop-fullness, finish with classic lacto-crisp.

 

Unique, to say the least. Funky, slightly sour and sweet aroma. Earthy, sour flavor and cider like, with a fuller carbonation than the head and lacing would indicate. Funky overall, balanced I guess, but not bad. Cheers!