Troegs Nugget Nectar

I'm not going to accuse them of being inept or unethical, but what I will confirm is that over the past few years there has been some pretty significant batch variations in Nugget Nectar. Not just minor batch variations, but major to the point described above in that "off" batches lack hop flavor and nose and the overall beer suffers tremendously because of it. Nugget Nectar at it's best is aeromatic, fruity and hoppy all at the same time.

All of this is not just "axes to grind", there are enough of us out here that have experienced this over the years to make it totally valid. Last year my keg was "average" at best, this year it's tremendous. It's not all in our minds.

 

While I'm certainly willing to entertain the possibility that breweries can and do release beer that is suboptimal, a brewery the size of Troegs undoubtedly does a thorough sensory evaluation on each batch released before it leaves the brewery. As it has been said before in this thread, how are you differentiating mishandling after it leaves the brewery with something that is happening beforehand?

Also, saying that "this beer doesn't taste like last year's" or "this batch isn't as good as the other one" is right up there with all the complaints of beers being "infected". We'll just say that all of these claims are spurious, at best.

 

The 'bad' 6-pack that I recently purchased was packaged at the end of December and it was about 2 weeks from bottling when I purchased it. Troegs brewery is about an hour drive from where I live (and purchased the beer). The past month has been pretty cold so this beer was not exposed to hot temperatures like can occur in the summertime. When I got home with that 6-pack I placed it in my basement which is pretty cool/cold right now.

That could be a potential explanation for year to year variability of a seasonal beer. Crop harvest is not the explanation for why a batch of Nugget Nectar that was brewed at the end of December 2017 has a differing aroma/flavor from a batch that was brewed the first week of January 2018.

Variation of batches of Nugget Nectar in a given season has been on ongoing thing for many years (10+ years?). Let me tell you about my experience for last year's season (end of 2016 - beginning of 2017). I purchased a 12-pack of bottles and those beers were 'on'. I thoroughly enjoyed drinking that batch. The next batch I purchased was a 6-pack of cans and those beers were 'off'. They were not terrible beers but they notably lacked hop aroma/flavor (the same problem I have with my 6-pack purchase of bottles this year). You may have a differing view here but when a brewery experiences batch to batch variations in a given seasonal released beer and this has been occurring over many years (over a decade?) then I view this as a QC issue.

Cheers!

 

Had my first bottle of the season last night. Phenomenal. Still hate the new label, and miss the old one.

 

Thanks for clarifying. I haven't had NN regularly enough to have experienced it myself, but I am inclined to trust a bunch of PA-based old timers.

 

I had my first can of the season last night, dated best by 5/10/18. Yeah, the hops don't pop, but I don't recall ever having one that did. Perhaps we are spoiled by the Focal Bangers and Julius style beers we get now. My experience was a clean smooth malty ale with a big foamy white head and well-balanced hops. It was delicious and well worth the $2.50 a can.

 

Yup, it was the best of the old labels. And the new ones generally suck.

 

I don't think anyone who buys Nugget Nectar is expecting to get something that resembles a Trillium IPA, but to call it "malty" is just plain wrong.

 

The question would then be, "Why do you keep buying it if you expect they have QC issues with it and have for the past 10 plus years?"

 

I think NN bills itself as an imperial amber ale. Call it what you want.

 

Sure, they call it an imperial amber, but it's an IPA. What else could it be with the following specs?

7.5%
Abv
93
Ibu

• Malt:
  • Munich, Pilsner, Vienna
    
• Hops:
  • Nugget, Palisade, Simcoe, Tomahawk, Warrior
    
• HopBack Hops:
  • Nugget
    
• Yeast:
  • Ale
    
• Color:
  • Straw / Orange
    

It’s impossible to forget your first squeeze. Once a year, as the newest humulus lupulus harvest arrives at Tröegs, we blend these super-fresh hops into an Imperial Amber Ale. Excessively dry-hopped, Nugget Nectar is an explosion of pine, resin and mango.

 

I totally agree with this. I think the new labels look very "kiddie" like. Not a fan, the old NN label rocked hard.

 

If you had to call it something else other than Imperial Amber, you would call it an American Strong Ale. Just like Lagunitas Imperial Red. It ain't an IPA. Anyway, people waste their money on it year after year because when it's on, it really really good. Only way to find the good batches is to volunteer to be a test monkey and report the findings to others.

 

Definitely not a big fan of their new branding either. They could have done a much better job, IMO.

 

Agreed. And it's not even a year to year comparison we're talking about here. These are batches which are bottled within days of each other that can be compared side by side; and can definitely exhibit significantly different profiles. I've done it before, and would probably be doing it again if I didn't get lucky with my first sixer this year.

 

This makes me want to get a hold of separate batches and compare them, as I've never had a bad experience with this beer.

 

I wouldn't say bad, myself. It's more like a single compared to a home run. But I'd rather spend my money elsewhere if I knew that I'd be getting the single ahead of time .

If I can get a can without purchasing a whole 12 pack this year, I just may do a comparison myself. Seems like the cans are getting panned so far on this thread.

 

Well, damn. I have to say, my NN experience tonight was disappointing. My first six-pack of bottles with a May Best By date were fantastic. My draft and nitro last week at a local bar were fantastic, too. However, tonight, I'm having a can with a late April Best By date (sorry the bartender threw it away faster than I could remember a specific date). It was stored in their cooler. This is absolutely below par for my experience with NN this year. Almost no hop aroma or taste, and a bit sweeter. Yes, this batch variation is an absolute real thing and it's quite unpleasant.

@JackHorzempa
@Kadonny