Why aren't there more Nelson hops beers out there?

I have a very similar palate to Jeff (hopfenunmaltz) in that generally speaking I am not a fan of Nelson Sauvin hops. An exception is that I did enjoy drinking Anchor Humming Ale which was solely hopped with Nelson Sauvin hops. For me, I think the issue is the amount of hops used in making that beer. Humming Ale had a ‘light touch’ of hops so I highly suspect that is why I enjoyed that particular beer. I have had some beers that were heavily hopped with Nelson Sauvin hops (e.g., Nelson Sauvin IPAs brewed by local brewpubs) which I thought were disgusting.

Everybody has a different palate but any beer heavily hopped with Nelson Sauvin has not been pleasing to me.

Cheers!

 

Had Nelson Showers for the first time this weekend. Very delicious. The only nelson hopped beers I have had are from CA. Wonder if that is a coincidence at all.

 

Fuck GSB

 

according to anchor, availability.

also, i think lots of people don't get behind the cheese/pineapple/light citrus thing they have going on, but maybe they're coming around. love nelson.

 

Hmm... Just a Thought, but how about putting this hop in something that would be aged, like a barley wine. If It has a wine-esque profile... Perhaps a higher ABV and some age could do well. Add some wood chips while youre t it. Sounds good to me.

 

I have worked in the bar and restaurant business for about 20 years, with over 12 in breweries. The issue with most of the new hops that we are all devoted to is that they are mostly all new strains. When the farmers start growing them, they never know how popular any particular hop is going to be. So the explosive popularity of the Nelson hop, for example, means that as more demand is placed on the hop, more and more farmers will start dedicating fields to this hop. But, in the meantime, we have to wait for new crops to grow, and as new higher demand takes all of these new crops, there is bound to be another shortage. Eventually, there will be a sort of equilibrium found, where hop production and hop demand are close to each other. By that time, there will probably be a new strain of hop that has to go through the supply and demand cycle. Hope this helps.

 

Are you asking why folks don't often brew a 100% nelson beer?

It's a very aggressive hop, and can be downright harsh on its own. It really starts to shine when blended in.

 

Get into homebrewing! That way you can make a beer with the ingredients you want in it.