Tröegs Nugget Nectar 2023

Oh yeah. KBS was probably one of my tops, along with some of the popular 16oz beers I knew shouldn't have been in there.

 

@JayORear it just landed in philly: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=640174971447272&set=pcb.640175174780585

 

As of yesterday it’s in the south suburbs of CLE.

 

I typically defend nugget nectar as being an always quality beer. And as such I typically ignore the conjecture of "inconsistency" to be little more than evolving palates that are left with a romanticized desire for this beer to taste like it did to us 15 to 20 years ago when [it and maybe us] may have entered the hoppy beer world in a very different climate.

I still stick to this stance to be the primary reason for discontent of nugget nectar not living up to expectations over the past 4-6 years.

Having said that I must eat my own words and truly say that 2023 nugget nectar is the least hoppy/bright/impressive iteration I've tasted.

 

Addendum - Double nugget is an absolute masterpiece for what its worth. Had it last year for the first time and utterly loved it. Initial impression this year is the same. I find very little similarity in taste to it related to regular nugget nectar though. I dislike all things NEIPA most often but if double NN were hazy it would be NEIPA all day, and one of the few that I take to.

 

Welcome to the world of reality, batch inconsistency it a real thing here unfortunately.

Cheers!

 

I purchased a 6 pack cans of best by 5/9/23. While a very well made beer I would say it is lacking a real hop presence.
A decent enough beer but I wish I had only bought a single.

 

That is what I did this year.

Cheers!

 

I just bought a single bottle of NN last night and it was very solid.

 

There’s a practice used in operant conditioning to train dogs and humans, that you get a better response if you don’t reward every single instance of the desired behavior. The uncertainty of the reward actually increases desired behavior.

I think Troegs hit upon this and effectively playing buyers for suckers. Rather than make a consistent hoppy, aromatic beer year to year and batch to batch, they randomly reward with a really good batch from time to time. And that reinforces the subject to continue to buy them more so than if it is always the same. NN therefore doesn’t get relegated to the forgotten pile of once sought after hoppy juicebombs or whatever is being clamored for at the moment.

Troegs can’t make a consistent NN but consumers keep buying them anyway. Quite devious.

Kidding of course but one wonders…

 

I took one psychology course in college and the professor related a story:

He and a colleague/friend would go to lunch together every Friday at the same nearby restaurant just off campus. At lunch his friend would leave their waitress a 'standard' tip (15 - 20% I assume) while my professor would vary the tip: sometimes something like 50% and other times less than 10%. He did this as you detailed above since his 'theory' is he would obtain better/quicker service since she would be thinking "Maybe today is the day I get the BIG tip".

Now back to Nugger Nectat, I personally refused to buy Nugget Nectar the past couple/few years since my thought process was: why gamble whether I obtain a good batch when there are plenty of other high quality hoppy beers to buy that I know will be good.

This year I purchased one bottle of Nugget Nectar as part of a mix-a-six and while that beer was not a malt-bomb it wasn't exactly great either. I suppose the word "solid" would apply to this one bottle.

Cheers!

 

I’m sure I’ve said this before in these yearly NN threads, but it just blows my mind since I find Troegs extremely consistent with their other beers. I drink a lot of Perpetual and Sunshine and I always know what I’m going to get. Even their other seasonals are reliable. Blizzard of Hops, Mad Elf, Field Study, you name it.

 

My review of Double NN. In short, nothing special to me and nothing I would seek out again:

New Beer Weekend #132

 

I think it's the hops plus the darker malts, as many beers I have had over the years with this combination seem to be hit or miss.

 

Is it just me, or does this need have zero aroma this year?….I mean none.

Tastes ok. Reminds me more of hopback amber then NN.

 

Had a draft NN last night. Wasn't what I recalled from last year, but then much of what I recall from last year is suspect.

 

I miss Hopback too. I was really upset when I went looking for it and found out it was discontinued.

 

Wasn't NN inspired by Hopback (or vice versa)? Their ingredients have some similarities:

https://troegs.com/beer/hopback-amber-ale/

https://troegs.com/beer/nugget-nectar/