Single-hopped Nelson Sauvin

[Alw94]

Evening All, I'm new around here and have posted a quick intro so far. I was did my first brew today in about 3 months, which is a single-hopped Nelson Sauvin from the Greg Hughes book. It wasn't what I planned to do but hops supplies were really low at the shop. The recipe also asked for Carapils but they didn't have that either. Anyhow, thought I'd crack on with it nevertheless. I've been having issues with falling short of the anticipated end volume and also on having some off-flavours that I'm thinking are due to the mash. For example, I batch sparge and the second run-off appeared to be 1.010 maybe even 1.008.

My brews (all-grain) have been hit and miss since I switched, so I am hoping for a bit of advice to work things out. More on that later. I thought that after this brew, I'll aim for another in a couple of weeks, by which time, hopefully, I'll have ironed out some issues.

So, I'm thinking of dry-hopping this with some Citra in 10 days time to give it that little bit extra. I do like different beers but the hoppy varieties are my preference.

 

[peebee]

Nelson Sauvin are usually gone before the other hops are running out! My last brew was single-hopped Nelson Sauvin, but I did see some suggestion it is best used with other hops, but I don't know why. Possibly 'cos they are expensive and we have plenty of good cheaper hops from the UK?

The mash isn't normally a source of "off" flavours - they come later (if you are not careful).

Carapils is a very lightly coloured crystal malt. I'm sure the point of it is really only relevant to very lightly coloured beers. But the "cara" malts are very popular at moment so I'll get shouted down for that comment.

 

[Harbey]

I did a Nelson Vs Elderado hopped beer recently. I also added some Hallertau Blanc and ended up with a very dry white wine style pale ale. It's a really nice drink if a little more subtle than your average hoppy beer.

 

[phildo79]

I always thought carapils / carafoam was only really used for head retention. Never seen it in big quantities in a recipe.

 

[peebee]

I always thought carapils / carafoam was only really used for head retention. Never seen it in big quantities in a recipe.

… and body/mouth-feel. Though I've never understood how this can be the case if it (aka "dextrin malt") is mashed and all the dextrin converted to maltose. Never seen the point of adding it for "head retention" either: Pale malt does that just fine.

 

[Zephyr259]

… and body/mouth-feel. Though I've never understood how this can be the case if it (aka "dextrin malt") is mashed and all the dextrin converted to maltose. Never seen the point of adding it for "head retention" either: Pale malt does that just fine.

I have the exact same thought, not all carapils are made equal though (apparently), the US stuff from Briess is essentially 5 ebc crystal where the Weyerman stuff is meant to be undermodified and I've heard it describes as half crystal half chit malt? So that might help due to extra protein assuming you don't want to use a flaked adjunct?

 

[peebee]

… is essentially 5 ebc crystal where the Weyerman stuff is meant to be undermodified and I've heard it describes as half crystal half chit malt …

Thanks for that. Never paid any attention to "chit malt", but after a bit of Googling it really sounds like it might do something, unlike "carapils", etc. which in my mind are only there to give the impression that the brewer knows what he's doing.

I'll add "chit malt" to the armoury for when I do want to retain those weird fluffy heads you get on German/Belgium style beers.

 

[Zephyr259]

The quotation marks make me wonder if you're being slightly sarcastic but I think you're sincere. If so, no worries but these two threads discuss it and sounds like using flaked barley does the same trick but maybe with some more flavour impact than chit malt. I use 9% flaked barley (EGB torrified stuff) in my bitter but I've not made the bitter without it for flavour comparison. I only carb to 1.5 vol so it doesn't head a lot, the head on my saison/weizenbock batch could be due to this but they also have heaps of both malted and unmalted wheat and oats.

Sorry for the derailment from Nelson Sauvin...

 

[peebee]

Quotation marks 'cos I'm discussing something I'm not responsible for using the words for ( or summit like that) - if you want me to be sarcastic you'll know about it! I guess those people who think "carapils" is really cool already know about it, although I did dilute that sarcasm by making it clear it was my view.

Derailing "Nelson Sauvin"? I'll try do something about that: Given the name because they have a profile of flavours not dissimilar to Sauvignon Blanc based wines. And tasting beer I made with them in I can imagine it to be true, more so than the European pretender to this crown (Hallertau Blanc, which also got a mention in this thread). Some say the flavour of these hops is too strong and "radical" to be used alone, but I've used it alone with no complaint (but I admit I was using it in a pretty radical beer - but don't get too excited, by "radical" I mean 0.5% ABV and the hopping was entirely steep, or "whirlpool", hops giving about 6IBU plus later dry hops).

 

[Alw94]

unlike "carapils", etc. which in my mind are only there to give the impression that the brewer knows what he's doing.

...well, yes, I'd have to admit to being a bit guilty of that! I did think it was to improve the body and mouthfeel but considering how my last brew turned out this was the least of my worries. The Greg Hughes recipe looks, to my inexperienced eyes, to be fairly light on the quantities of the NS hops and this is why I planned on adding some extra for dry-hopping. I've found about 30g of Simcoe in the freezer from the last brews, so I'm thinking I may as well add that...and maybe some Citra. Too much?

 

[Grealish]

I've brewed with a 50/50 mix of Mosaic and NS and I loved it, as did my mate. NS is not to everyone's taste, however. I used just aroma steep and dry hop additions.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I brewed a SMaSH Nelson back in January (i think) and initially hated it, however after 6 weeks or so in the bottle it's mellowed a fair bit and i'm drinking one now, it's defo drinkable!

 

[Alw94]

Bottled the NS brew last night and all has seemed to go well. The Simcoe dry hop pretty much just sat on top so I doubt I've got the full benefit of that. The sample I took for gravity reading tasted pretty decent for that early stage. I'm hoping it turns out well. I bottled 12 bottles for sharing and the rest went into a polypin. I usually drink a bottle after two weeks and then another after about 4 weeks to check on difference.