My problem with Nugget Nectar

If you want to fault anyone here you should fault all the brewers who use IPA as a marketing term on beers that are definitely not IPA, and all the beer drinkers who have done the same. They have warped your understanding of what an IPA is, and there are lots of resources you can use to find out the true meaning of the style name. And I highly suggest using them.

 

Nugget Nectar was added to Beer Advocate in 2/13/2004. Facebook was founded 2/4/2004. Is Facebook also over-hyped? Or can we now say that both products have safely cleared the "hype" stage by about a decade.

 

Underwhelmed by the beer..But LOVE that glass!

 

so glad i bought a case............to trade.

 

The biggest problem?

It's too easy to find!

 

For some reason people have begun using the terms "hype" and "unrealistic expectations" interchangeably. They're not the same. There's no ticketed release for Nugget Nectar. You don't have to wait in line to get it. I've never heard of stores imposing limits. It's just a really good seasonal a lot of people look forward to. This is much more an issue of questionable perspective.

 

Love it in the can!

 

Totally beat me to this. I am getting worn out from people somehow blaming the beer and/or brewery for the hype trajectory. Especially Troegs with NN. All they do is put out a great tasting seasonal and they are getting unnecessary criticism for it. What a spoiled pack of asshats we as a community can be.

 

Don't forget the wonderful Hop Knife! It's better than Blizzard of Hops. Other than that, you're correct.

 

I mean can anyone say that any craft beer is truly hyped by a brewery? Even the ticketed ones are just the brewery trying to manage the massive amount of demand (some do it better than others admittedly)

 

Since a number of posters expressed interest in the amber vs. IPA thing, I'll indicate why I consider it an IPA.

1) Many people would not consider Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale a true IPA, for example. Terms aren't cast in stone and there is considerable overlap in use of some terms especially amber and IPA. Porter and stout too. The label is one part of the equation but in the final analysis each of us here can decide for himself what type of beer he is drinking even though trade association classifications or brewers' labels may indicate something different.

2) I tend to think of IPA historically, in England it was a very hoppy beer with a moderate malt quality and could be pale or amber in color. Greene King's IPA is about the same color and has a caramelly taste. Many other English ales could be likened to the Nugget Nectar and these are called pale ales or bitters simply because the term IPA tended to fall into disuse in the U.K. by the middle 1900's, but pale ale and India Pale Ale are part of the same tradition and there is no clear separation between them.

3) The Nugget nectar reminded me quite a bit in taste and color to the 1970's/early 80's Ballantine India Pale Ale, which was about the same color, ABV and had a similar keynote hop flavor. Ballantine was known to use Brewer's Gold in this period and Nugget is a derivative of Brewer's Gold. Ballantine IPA has its roots in 1800's American brewing and indirectly to U.K. pale ale brewing of the time.

Looking at the Troeg's website, it seems the Nugget Nectar is clearly an amping up of its regular Amber release, which it distinguishes from its IPA so called. The brewery may well consider that the sweeter taste and darker color warrant not using the term India Pale Ale. And that's fine for them but in my view it is an IPA much in the style of the old Bally IPA and so I think for this and other reasons I mentioned you can look at it that way, or that's why I do in any case. But other people can take a different view of course.

 

Admittedly I haven't had NN this year, but based off prior years' versions I've tasted, it is unlike anything you would typically find in the UK (at least to me, and I'm from there). It is definitely not like Greene King IPA, and being likened to GK is an insult to any beer, especially something solid like NN

 

It drinks like a malty DIPA, calling it an imperial amber was marketing genius on Troeg's part.

 

I've had it pretty fresh (1-2 weeks) and not so fresh (over 30 days old) and the difference is HUGE - +1 on this post.

 

I am not going to scour all three pages. Here is what I have to say. I love Troegs, and I love me some Nugget. The first time I had this beer 2010 or 2011 can't recall exactly, getting old, it was just awash with very pungent hop aromas. Dank as some would say. And I found it equally delicious and alluring each year. That is until this year. Delicious yes, but the batch I had seemed much more subdued in aroma and flavor. I am chalking it up to a severe palate shift that is going on right now. Example. I opened a Stone Ruination and Cali Belgieque this weekend. Actually a Delicious IPA too. The Ruination I simply could not get any aroma from, and it was not a bottle dating issue. The Cali had a huge bubblegum spicy yeast nose to it. I think my honker has lost the ability to pick up certain hop tones.

In the end though, the debate about IPA, this is not an IPA, and Troegs is pretty freaking clear on that. In any event, people should head to Hershey. I absolutely loved hitting their taproom two years ago.

 

Never understood how a beer that sells well is automatically labeled as hyped on this site. See these threads on here all the time.
didnt live up to the hype. Because 100's or 1000's of people like and buy and maybe express some excitement does not make a beer hyped..hype is built up in your own mind people..stop blaming others if you bought said beer and didnt love it.

 

Now seeing this I am thinking maybe I am not losing my honker? I just could not get the aromas out of my bottles or cans this year that I found in the past. It was a good drinking beer, but I feared I had gone nose blind.

 

Had it for the first time this year as it was the first time available in my state and I thought it was great. I work in a relatively large package store and try a lot of the "overly hyped" beers that hit our area and I found this one quite refreshing both in taste and price. I was more disappointed in GI Bourbon County I have many just as good Bourbon ageded stouts for a lot less price point

 

a fine beer but no better than numerous hoppy reds in the PNW

 

I'm for the nectar. I love the stuff. it's hoppy, it's malty and succulent and delicious.