So today was keg day for my first NEIPA using cosmic punch. Columbus and cascade only on hot side (3oz cascade also used in the mash hops) and DH with the following schedule:
DH1: 1oz Citra LUPOMAX, 1oz Galaxy, 2oz moutere
DH2: 1oz Citra LUPOMAX, 3oz Nectaron
The hydro sample (tasting just the effect of hot side hops and cosmic punch) was very citrus and tropical. The citrus was more or less grapefruitiness. It also had some nice earthiness but was more complimentary after the citrus/tropical vibe. Assuming that was the Columbus which I love. Pitched at 68 and after 24hrs let it rise to ~71, then after about 3.5 days as it was slowing down I pushed it to 73. Finished by day 5 but let it sit at that temp till the hydro sample at day 7. FG was 1.015 (one of the few times my TILT was deadly accurate compared to hydrometer lol). Started soft crash day 8 to 50 and held for 36 hrs@50 degrees before letting it rise to ~53-54 for dry hopping. This was intended on just being citra, galaxy, moutere and the first DH was planned. All DH1 hops smelled fantastic, especially moutere. 24hrs later for the second dry hop, and the new pack of galaxy just smelled "OK" at best, so I decided to switch course given one of my fav combos thus far was exclusively Moutere and Nectaron. I ONLY had 13oz nectaron left and its out of stock but decided to use some anyways lol. Glad I did!
The pics are the force carbed sample from leftovers after kegging (need better lighting I know), but in general -
I am stunned how fruity this is and aroma of force carbed sample is fantastic. Was wanting to make sure I get the passionfruit/tropical vibe for this and this nailed it. Some background earth, but honestly almost thinking need more earthiness to keep the depth of this beer because the passionfruit/tropical vibe is HUGE. For those who haven't used nectaron, its prob my fav hop these days and has awesome peach and tropical vibes with a lower NZ diesel character compared to Nelson or other "edgy" NZ hops. But it still has the NZ character. Its really a refined hop IMO. This beer is ready to drink NOW with zero conditioning needed to enjoy it, although I will take the week to carb it up and allow for some conditioning/aromas to work its magic anyways lol.
I do agree with
@secretlevel in that I don't think that cosmic punch changes or gets in the way of the hop profile/flavor but it really seems to amplify the profile in general. In my case - its the passionfruit/tropical vibe. Definitely going to keep experimenting with the cosmic punch. I am a fan.
Poor indoor lighting, but will try to get a proper beer porn pic uploaded in about 7-10days when the keg is tapped.
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