Nelson Sauvin SMaSH
4 Noses Brewing Company

 

Look - slightly hazy without a whole lot of head, not very foamy, okay lacing and retention is not the best.

Smell - a great deal of mango and, peach some caramel malt - smells a bit tart

Taste - only slight bitterness and turns very dry very quickly, tart fruit, mango - peach... A touch of plum slight breadiness slight tartness

Feel - feels a bit thin it means more towards the light body but still decent. Decent oiliness from the hops

Overall - is really good beer for a single malt and single hop - is decent on flavor and complexity - well-rounded beer I'm pretty dry but flavorful hops

another solid hop forward beer from these guys, even canned a couple of months ago its tasting delicious, seems like no loss at all. rarely is vienna malt what i am looking for with sexy new hop varietals like nelson, its a built in grain biased in a beer thats supposed to be about the hops, but it doesnt seem like a miss in this for some reason, and the near full glory of the nelson is still happening in it, which is a major relief. more refined than a lot of these, not a messy hazy starchy nelson beer, its almost like some actual barley malt is innovative with this hop, sad as that is to say i reckon its at least true in part. the hops are juicy and white grape and peach juice forward, a little dried apricot, good champagne, and passion fruit too, still fresh and sexy, and the malt has some minerals and toasted earthy character, less sweet than vienna normally seems to me, so there is balance here but in an unexpected way. this is solid beer, maybe pale ale to a fault, like it could use another dry hopping or even a bit more bitterness to really make the nelson sing, but its a well made beer, well planned and executed, and deserving of the praise i am giving it here. i love these guys, they somehow remain under the national radar, but they make a million different beers and all of them are good, and its always fun to drink their stuff, especially now that i am only a visitor not a resident to colorado and its a bit less frequent. interesting use of nelson, but a nice beer overall, a relic yet perfectly modern at the same time...

 

Brightly clear body; lively, fine bubble carbonation; thick and frothy white head; fine density with the lacing and sheeting coating the glass. Earthy scents of grass and white grapes; a little lemony. Outstanding blend of light and toasted malt with an subdued and earthy hop presence; well-balanced hop bitterness. Medium body; crisp and warm on the palate; fairly dry mouthfeel throughout.

I'm not usually a fan of Nelson Sauvin hops as I find them too wine-like in character and tend to overtake the rest of a beer's ingredients. This beer does things right! I'm inclined to believe that being a single malt and single hop (SMaSH) that utilizes Vienna malt is the key here. The relatively rich and toasty quality nicely offsets and complements some of the Nelson Sauvin stronger qualities that tend to turn me off. Yes, sir. What we have here is a very fine and exquisite little SMaSH!!

 

This is a beautiful summer drinker. Clearly a pale ale, and clearly that nelson you all love! Vienna malt as well. I could down a sixer of these without issue.