Favorite Nelson Hopped Beers

Hard to beat the beers you talked about there. Definitely the three best producers of Nelson centric beers and some of the loudest voices for that hop that exist.

Our flagship beer is very Nelson centric and was influenced by the Nelson beers from HF and Cellarmaker. A truly amazing hop that can vary widely by where it’s grown, when it’s harvested, and the growing conditions that year. The quality and consistency has improved leaps and bounds in the last 4-5 years. I’ve heard brewers talk about getting their contracted lots of Nelson 6-7 years ago and not being able to use it cause it was so bad.

Only had the original Nelson once or twice before Green Flash fucked it up but still have fond memories.

 

As a fellow Nelson FanBoi, I agree with you that most of the best purveyors of the All-mighty Nelson hop are on the west coast.

I constantly seek out all-Nelson hopped brews and often do side-by-sides to nerd out and pick out the differences!

After doing this, and one brewery that I think you should add to your list is Green Cheek! I have found that in both their hazies and westies, nobody gets maximum hop expression out of Nelson as consistently as them. You got to check them out!

 

Fidens out of NY have the come the closest to some of the Green Cheek and Monkish hazies.

 

Cellarmaker is good but in the Bay area I think Original Pattern makes the best NZ hopped beers. Their head brewer is an Aussie and has a lot of experience with southern hemisphere hops, and OP seems to have access to some of the best Nelson hops. Full Nelson IPA and All About Nelson were outstanding beers with bright sauv blanc/gooseberry flavors.

Russian River often has a R&D ipa at the taproom called Docta Ron, which is either all Nelson or mostly Nelson. It's outstanding as well, and I thought I heard RR was considering making it a regular, but I'm not sure.

 

I can only think of three 100% Nelson hopped beers I've had in recent times..
Prison Pals - Nelson #3
Mcilhenney - Muntz #1 by a MILEE
Magnanimous - All That Remains Is Nelson #2

 

Didn’t OG Alpine Nelson predate the haze craze by a couple of years? I thought it did but I wasn’t out there in So Cal to confirm that. HF Nelson is the best I’ve had.

 

I’d forgotten that Alpine Nelson is a clear beer (and that it has rye). Sounds way more appealing than the hazies using Nelson.

 

Yes if that’s the case then Alpine Nelson definitely was way before the haze craze kicked in by about 10 years. Kinda running in a parallel west coast universe with Heady Topper.

 

Toppling Goliath ZeeLander is one Ive had often. I dont seek out Nelson hopped beers , rather run into them when buying singles.

 

Nelson was a game changer. It was a single hop beer and the hop was delicate perfect in and of itself. I just had a beer in the neipa style that featured Nelson and Dorado hops. I'm cloudy on the brewer but I think it was resurgence anniversary ipa. They put Nelson hop into a new context in that beer with a powerhouse like Dorado , simcoe and mosaic. It was a steady partner and not obscured by the more powerful hops. I remember climbing back on Facebook to make the compliment " this is the cleanest neipa I've ever had and I can taste the Nelson sauvin hop perfectly." These threads will teach you that you remember truly excellent beer .

 

In post #2 there was mention about the inconsistency in the qualities (flavors) of Nelson Sauvin hops:

“The quality and consistency has improved leaps and bounds in the last 4-5 years. I’ve heard brewers talk about getting their contracted lots of Nelson 6-7 years ago and not being able to use it cause it was so bad.”

Have you had drinking experiences over the years which are consistent with what is discussed above?

Cheers!

P.S. I have read similar stories about inconsistencies of Galaxy hops over the past few years (e.g., decade).

 

Hello Jack.

Not with Nelson sauvin hops because I rarely have any beers with them. There have been lots of hops over the years that I thought were terrific but then they disappeared. To name a two, vic secret and Belma hops. I can't remember the name of the hops that tasted like green bell pepper but I liked those too, Simcoe hops was the most inconsistent hop when I started liking ipas. Use them right and they are a dank and fruity sensation. Use them wrong and they are like onions or like cat litter.

 

In my opinion I think that hop aroma/flavor of certain hops are related to when the hops are harvested. There is lots of discussion about the terroir effects for hops but from my perspective when a hop is harvested is just as important (if not more important). I have heard from brewers that for a given hop if you conduct a late harvest those hops will have increased levels of onion/garlic flavors.

I have found in my homebrewing (i.e., the hops that are available for sale to homebrewers) that Simcoe hops have 'evolved' over the years. A decade+ ago I would purchase Simcoe hops and they would have notable flavor/aroma of pine. Nowadays there is little pine in the Simcoe hops I purchase and more so flavor of citrus and stone fruit. This 'evolution' might be evident in commercially brewed beers as well?

Are you referring to Ekuanot (formerly called Equinox hops) here? I have homebrewed with Equinox/Ekuanot hops a number of times in the past (I will be homebrewing another Ekuanot IPA in a couple/few weeks). I personally have never perceive green pepper with this hop, maybe just an artifact of my personal palate.

Below is how I detailed Equinox hops in a past homebrewed IPA:

"Aroma:

The first thing that hits my nose is a wonderful hop aroma! There is a lot going on here:

· Some tropical fruit

· A bit of citrus

· Yup, there is some cedar there as well

· A pungent smell that I would not personally call green pepper but I could see somebody using this term

This is the most complex hop aroma I have ever experienced! If my verbal skills were better I would be able to list a half-dozen more descriptors for hop aroma."

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-558.349949/#post-4201670

Cheers!

 

That's them Eukanot hops.

 

Love this thread as another big Nelson fan, it is certainly my favorite hop when done right. I made the pilgrimage out to Alpine in 2014, and it is one of my favorite beer memories. Then coming back and trading for the bombers a bunch of times thereafter to try to recreate the experience. I make an effort to try almost all my local spots when they come out with a Nelson beer but a lot fall short of my (probably too high) expectations.

Looking at these posts, seems like I need to try to get my hands on some Mcilhenney, eh.

 

Hell yeah. Nelson is starting to become my favorite hop varietal and may dethrone my current favorite, Amarillo, at this rate.

Off the top of my head, Homeplace in Burnsville, NC does an excellent Nelson session IPA called Full Nelson. I also think I had one by Other Half that was not All Nelson Everything but I can't remember what it's called. I'll report back here if I think of any others

 

I don’t think I’ve had a beer with Nelson that I didn’t like… that snappy crisp white grape gooseberry kiwi white wine flavor always gets me. I’ve had plenty of local IPAs and a couple hoppy lagers hopped with Nelson. I did like Modern Times Blazing World amber IPA a lot but that is discontinued now. Whenever I see a beer with Nelson on the menu I usually know what to expect and it’s always good!