Mikkeller Single Hop Nelson Sauvin IPA

Pours orange. Nose is a unique blend of chardonnay, pineapple, apple peel, citrus and spice. Flavor is a smooth spice, some sharp citrus and mild bitterness. Hints of pine creep through. What an awesome hop.

Serving date: 2009-03-30. Served in snifter. Golden orange color. Very big off-white and rather creamy head that dissipates slowly and leaves plenty of lacings. Plenty of fruity hop aromas - green grapes, bitter grapefruit, rhubarb. Pine-needles and some tobacco. Herbs and floral notes. A very powerful and pleasant smell, excellent. The taste is not as impressive as the smell, but still very good. A rather unique hop profile with plenty of rich fruity flavors - green grapes that are almost somewhat tart, gooseberries, some grapefruit. Prominent character of white wine initially. Pine-needles, some tobacco and floral notes add some bitter elements. Very good balance between sweetness and tartness. The malty backbone is of caramel, but is really not that sturdy. In the finish there is a slightly sharp bitterness, grape seeds, grape skin, herbs and a note of peach. Medium body, smooth but slightly too much carbonation. A very good beer with a very interesting and delightful hop character. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

Courtesy of Blazer06. Pours copper with gold edge and lasting light tan head. The aroma has the hops pulling up spicy notes, a sense of white wine, a touch of wood, grass and earthiness. Smells nice. The taste is similar with spicy hops and earthiness sort of starting things off. By about midway the white wine notes come to the surface to add a wonderful mix of flavors. The addition of that wine note really brings a higher level of interest to the experience. I think this is my first taste and smell of this hop. I really like it.

Bottle. Pours hazy amber with a huge, rocky off-white head, mostly lasting with excellent lacing. Aroma is average malt (straw, cereal, meal), heavy hop (grass, pine, citrus, grapefruit, orange), average yeast (sweat, musty) with notes of peach and apricot. Medium bodied, gritty texture, lively carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, light sweetness, heavy acidity and bitterness.

Bottle. Pours a lightly hazy, dark orange-amber color with a small, taught head of beige foam. Settling in to a thin, steadfast patch, the head leaves sticky, web-like lacing on the glass. The aroma is spot-on, very crisp and sharp in its hop billing, with notes of freshly cut grass, lemon, and pink grapefruit showing most prominently. An underlying malt base is comprised of lightly toasted toffee and fresh baked bread, neutral enough to allow the hops to shine, yet assertive enough to balance and compliment. I’m even getting an odd yet appealing note of white grape. Flavors follow suit nicely, though are perhaps a shade more muddled in terms of malt distinction. The lemony, grassy, grapey hops still shine brightly. A spicy, dry, Belgian-esque yeast character completes the unique experience. Medium-full in body and initially creamy, the palate breaks up into a dry, lively, fizzy eruption on the back end, distributing the pithy, resinous hops all throughout the mouth. This one is really good. It’s easily the best of the Mikkeller single hop series to date.

Pours a mostly clear amber, with off-white head. Bitter hops, sweet caramel and hop juice, grapefruit, and a bit of bread. It’s okay.

Bottle from jkwalking05. The look is a nice big foamy off white head, clear, and copper colored. The smell is hop, some bitteress, caramel, and lotion. The taste is medium bitterness, fruits, grapefruits, and citrus.

My Bottom Line:
Wet hemp, pineapple and flower petals explode from this super aromatic India Pale Ale, dominating the light caramelized cereal foundations, for a very personable drinking experience for the hophead I can be.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-There is lots of foam sitting atop the murky dark amber.
-The malt base in their single-hop IPAs is really not polished, but when the hops shine like they do in this one, I don’t care that much.
-The combination of fruitiness and funky leafiness (pot? hash?) is tantalizing.
-Give me a cleaner and crisper grain bill and this IPA reaches assured stardom, in my book.

Bottle.