Nelson Sauvin Magic: Our New IPA is a Hoppy Treat

Hops aren’t just used to provide bitterness to the beer but they have a certain characteristics which when used in the right way help in making a great beer. One of my favourite hops is Nelson Sauvin from New Zealand, a dual-purpose hop that has a unique flavour profile which cannot be found in any other hop.

You get a certain white wine like refreshing fruity aroma which edges out other regularly used hops in brewing. I've always wanted to introduce this particular hop in beer poured in Bengaluru and I got the chance at BLR Brewing Co. in JP Nagar, Bengaluru.

The thought process behind this was quite simple, "Let's showcase the hop” while also having a nice balance to the beer to increase its drinkability and a beer with a nice appearance such as a beautiful orange to amber tinge which shines bright! My personal opinion is that if the beer looks clear, it is super appealing compared to a hazy beer. A hazy beer definitely has its perks of being juicy and having a good medium-heavy mouthfeel, but the drinkability of a clear beer is higher.

The first batch was made with only the Nelson Sauvin hop, a single hop with all its goodness of fruitiness, winey-ness, grapefruit and oranges. Imagine you held the glass, closed your eyes and took a long whiff of the beer, you will probably be transported to a wine country!

This hop struck me as quite exquisite, and I felt it is probably not for everyone. So I got into iterations with multiple hops to balance out the flavours and aromas while keeping the essence of the hops intact.

For this I then tried a combination of Citra, Simcoe, and Cascade in different proportions with Nelson Sauvin to create a rounded burst of flavours without letting them overpower Nelson Sauvin and it turned out so good keeping the original characteristic intact while giving it just the right nudge of flavour.

Considering the beer drinkers in the city of Bengaluru, I did not want to keep the beer high on IBUs. I concentrated more on the flavor and aroma than the bitterness it brings in. The IBU is around 45 for this brew with the ABV of around 5.7% . Not too high not too low but packed with flavour.