Are Nelson too unapproachable for your average joe?

Do you know if there is many beer fans going to the wedding? If a far amount I would beer a hop forward beer if not just a basic pale ale with it.

 

I don't think its ever a wrong time for a nice pale ale.

 

Nelson in moderation, with Amarillo and Citra taking the forefront = unique enough to pique interest of beer geeks, but not too catty/dank/grapey to be a turn off to the masses (Did a pale, wheatwine and IPA with that group of hops for a couple big parties and all were very well received).

 

I would cut it back a little bit on the IBUs for the masses.

 

I've brewed for several weddings/not typical beer events and in my experience, whatever is brewed goes over well. Regardless of style. People these days are open to try new things, whether it's an Imperial IPA or or a honey wheat. If its good beer, it will do well.

 

Yes it probably will be too much

 

exact same thought i have. nelson on its own or in excess can get catty / moldy, but in conjunction with amarillo and citra i don't think anyone would be offended by those nice cantaloupe / pineapple / pungent notes that nelson brings. the problem is when it goes nuts and turns the beer to cheese... which is a problem for seasoned beer vets just as much as "novice palates," honestly (cf summit and its "onion flavor" and how awesome summit and/or summit dry hops can work in conjunction with other hops).

 

Damn, that sounds great. You gonna invite us?

Just kiddin... sounds like a great time, though.
I'd love to be in the NC mt.s shit-kicking to bluegrass on a crisp Oct. evening.

 

I like the 2:1:1 mix. 40 IBU seems like right about the sweet spot on bitterness for an aggressively hopped APA (XPA). I just did my second APA, hopped with Falconer's Flight (Horrible, generic hop btw)/Pacifica/Amarillo/Citra APA (~2:2:1:0.2) with similar characteristics to your's and ended up netting my first best in show, and the beer's been a big crowd pleaser.

RE your Nelson/Galaxy Beer, one of the things I've been anecdotally seeing in my hoppy beers is that the final dry hop (I have been double and tripling up lately) tends to be the most prominent hop flavor & aroma in the beer with everything else providing the subtle, more nuanced hop flavors (hope this doesn't sound pretentious)... seems to be especially true with Citra & Galaxy since they're so over the top flavorful.

 

Just curious, been meaning to do a Summit SMaSH, as I've never used it in a beer; would you advocate staying away from said idea, using it in conjunction with some other hops and just picking up some Gubna instead to test out how it works in isolation?

 

I'm thinking most of it would go over well enough, especially if there are options.

I brewed a nice 7.5% Simcoe/Amarillo/Citra IPA the other week, for my brothers wedding later this month. It's not high on the IBU's roughly 60-70-ish I think from the calculations, and it's really balanced. I think people would try it, and drink it and actually be open to it.

If not, I brewed a sweet orange blonde for the BMC people. It's like 23/25 IBU's, sweet enough to balance it out, crisp and clean, and has a lower ABV for people to pound back.

People will try stuff, especially at a wedding, and especially if it's free for them. Worst case, they dump it, or pass it to someone who's killin' it. I wouldn't make a big beer, or some 110 IBU, danky hop bomb for the masses, like wise I wouldn't make some huge roasted, bitter espresso roasty russian stout to expect people to knock back.

 

I'd be weary of it. Summit is an onion bomb. It's good blended in, but I like onion, but doubt I'd like a summit smash beer. Onion bomb, and tears would ensue.

 

i'd try a gubna first, since a lot of people find it repellent. myself, i've used summit in conjunction with other hops and really like it, but never tried it in single hop. i really don't know how "universally onion expressive" it is.

 

Thanks guys. I'll be picking up some GUBNA and most likely use Summit with some other hops that I know what to expect from.

 

I brewed a single hopped wheat a-la gumballhead with all summit, both bittering and dry hopped. I got a ton of tangerine citrus, no onion or garlic whatsoever. Maybe I got lucky, but I really like what I got from them.

To the OP, I am having the same dilemma as I am brewing for my own wedding in November. My pale ale recipe stays similar but I try different hop bills every time. I recently did a Nelson/Galaxy and it is ridiculous, most non craft drinkers seem to like it, but for family to drink all night I am going to go with more approachable hops, Cascade and Ahtanum. If you have Nelson try some type of blend, but I would personally suggest not to overdo it. My biggest fear is cleaning up 50 glasses of pale ale with 1 sip taken out of them at the end of the night.