Nirvana American Pale Ale

Nirvana American Pale Ale
Brewery:	Cerveza D'Equi
Style:	American Pale Ale
ABV:	5.4 %
Ratings
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Pale Ales of all types are having a global moment. Every brewery in the world is making some variation on the aromatically hopped easy-drinking style. Two things differentiate an American Pale Ale from an India Pale Ale. One is the focus on exclusively American-grown hops, with their characteristic resiny, piney, citrusy aromas and flavors. The other is the predominance of toasty malt with only hints of caramel. Sierra Nevada practically invented the style in 1980 with the release of their Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Originally a very hop-forward formulation with more than 50% more hops used than IPAs of the time, the APA style remains a very hop-heavy style. How does Nirvana hold up to this standard?

In my experience, Spanish beers are less hoppy than their American or English counterparts. This is entirely due to the differences in the cultural palates between the two societies. American drinkers are, in general, more interested in sour, bitter, and spicy flavors. These are, obviously, the main descriptors for hops in general, so it stands to reason that Americans would enjoy hoppier beers on average than Spaniards.

Nirvana is a classic APA tweaked for the Spanish palate. That is, it is an American-style pale ale with a smaller hop bill. It exhibits all of the characteristic aromas and flavors of American hops – pine, resin, citrus. And it mostly avoids the more European hop profiles – earthy, floral, herbaceous. It uses a very clean malt, with little to no caramel flavor. Perhaps we should start calling this APA but with slightly less hops a unique style of its own. The Asturian Pale Ale, perhaps?

Style Guidelines

• Color: Yellow (05 SRM)
  • Standard: Straw to light amber (4-7(8-14 EBC) SRM)
• Clarity: Hop haze for days
  • Standard: Chill haze is acceptable at low temperatures. Hop haze is allowable at any temperature.
• Perceived Malt Aroma & Flavor: Very low malt aromas. No detectable malt flavors
  • Standard: Low caramel malt aroma is allowable. Low to medium maltiness may include low caramel malt character.
• Perceived Hop Aroma & Flavor: Medium high hop aromas, and medium hop flavors. Primarily citrusy and juicy flavors.
  • Standard: High, exhibiting a wide range of attributes including floral, citrus, fruity (berry, tropical, stone fruit and other), sulfur, diesel-like, onion-garlic, catty, piney, resinous, and many others.
• Perceived Bitterness: Low to medium (33 IBUs)
  • Standard: Medium to medium-high (30-50 IBUs)
• Fermentation Characteristics: No diacetyl. Nice fruity aromas to complement the hops.
  • Standard: Fruity esters may be low to high. Diacetyl should not be present.
• Body: Medium
  • Standard: Medium