I am going to have to rename my Nelson Sauvin pale ale. I originally named it a hopeful “Lord Nelson Pale Ale.”
Now I think I will call it “Choke on Some Lawn Clippings, Winey B#%tch Ale”.
Just venting.
This recipe was doomed from the start. I called the LHBS to order 10 lbs of Vienna and 1 lb of Rye. When I got there the owner had mixed the two and milled them. I didn’t want them together. My club is having an iron brewer contest with required ingredients; Nelson Sauvin, Rye Malt, & Kolsch yeast. The LHBS owner was very apologetic and he is a very nice guy so I said screw it I will just use Vienna as my base malt.
Now as you might suspect from the new name, the beer, at all hydro readings and after 1 week in the keg, tastes like white wine followed by a bag full of lawn clippings. I had planned to save 2-3 bottles for the contest and donate the rest to a function at my kids school. That is 5 weeks away. I hope it gets better because “Choke on Some Lawn Clippings, Winey B#%tch Ale” may not go over well with the soccer moms.
The ill fated recipe:
10 # Vienna Malt
1 # Rye Malt
1 # Kolsch Malt (wanted a few more gravity points)
0.60 oz Chinook 11.6% 60 min
0.75 oz Nelson Sauvin 11.8% 10 min
0.75 oz Nelson Sauvin 11.8% 5 min
0.75 oz Nelson Sauvin 11.8% 0 min
0.75 oz Nelson Sauvin 11.8% dry 5 days
1L slurry WLP029 from Koslch
OG 1054
Bummer, I’m a huge fan of Nelson. I’ve never gotten grassiness from it - just an amped up C-hop grapefruit note paired with that white wine. All I can suggest is to try an extended cold crash. I’ve had an over-dryhopped IIPA come back from the dead once after about 6 weeks of lagering.
I made a cascade smash that tasted grassy as hell. Somehow I go my sulfate:chloride ratio at .8 when it should of been closer to 2 (blaming the cat).
I blended it with an all citra IPA that I made with McDole’s water profile and it was good. McDole’s profile is crazy high in sulfates.
Anyhow, added some gypsum to the keg and it is much more tolerable. Still a bit off but ok. You could add a tiny pinch of gypsum or Epsom salt to a glass (tiny) and see if it helps.
The grassy flavor is a bit harsh in this one. It’s like I am chewing on the stem from the bunch of grapes. I have two competing theories on why this happened. The hops weren’t in the fridge when I picked them up and that would not the first time the LHBS has pulled hops from a storage location other than the fridge. Of course they may have been in the fridge until he pulled them to get my order ready. The store seems to store some in the fridge some out. I don’t shop there often so I am not sure of the exact policy.
I added over a gallon of untreated tap water to top up. I have done that before but that could have given a vegetal taste.
The only other think I can think of is the rye malt and the grassy may combine to exaggerate the problem.
Answers from above:
My water is fairly mineral free. I didn’t treat it. I do have some gypsum so I will try a pinch in a glass. Sounds like a fun experiment.
The rye malt was Briess Rye Malt.
The beer is in a keg in the fridge. So it will be cold crashing at least the next month. Most likely I won’t take this to the event it was planned for. I’ll hold onto it a few months and see if that helps.
Hopefully you got hops that had been refrigerated. I wouldn’t pay a dime for room temp hops, ever. I agree with the cold crashing idea - hop oils bind to yeast and the cold crashing would drop a lot of the excess yeast and hop matter out of suspension (to the bottom), and hopefully some of that grassiness as well. I’m suspecting that your LHBS sold you room temp hops - I’ve used Nelson quite a bit and never had what you are describing. Let us know how it turns out.
I’m a big fan of Nelson, but I only use it in a single hop IPA. Not a big fan of Vienna. Leaves a sort of grittiness to me. Try leaving out the Chinnook
Also, I would use gelatin as well. Between cold crashing and gelatin (which will reduce hop aroma/flavor a bit) dropping the beer nice and bright, I think you’d see at least a little improvement.
EDIT - Unless (of course) you bottled which would make it a little late for gelatin.
Not a fan of Vienna? That’s like saying “I don’t like dark beers”. What brands Vienna have you tried? Best is pretty good and readily available. I suggest you give it another look.
As far as grassiness, what temp did you dry hop at?
I dry hopped at 68F. The taste was there before dry hop also.
PS. I forgot one more potential clue. Because I broke my carboy on brew day I fermented in an aluminum kettle (with oxidation layer) with lid held down by a few pounds of grain. I now have a new fermenter but not for this batch.