Changing Tastes: Hopslam & Nugget Nectar

Oskar Blues just released Deviant Dale's as a seasonal, so it's bound to be fresh. I don't know what they're calling it these days, but it sure as hell drinks like an Imperial Red. Good stuff, too!

 

I still love Nugget Nectar a lot and I look forward to my keg of it each year. No doubt our tastes have changed, but there can still be favorites that last beyond our latest taste trends.....like NN and G'Knight. Love them both.

PS: I would buy Hopslam too, but at almost $20 a six I've passed on it the past few years.

 

If you see Great Lakes in your part of IL, watch for Nosferatu in the fall. (Sep release IIRC.)

 

Thank you for that real perspective. What you are describing is what will continue to happen. These great ground-breaking beers set the stage for many good/great beers to follow, and in greater quantities, and in more and more regions. Narrowing the search for great beers is not nearly as difficult as it once was. It is a great time for beer!

 

I will buy my 6-pack of Nugget Nectar just like I do every year and I will enjoy the hell out of it just like I do every year. It's a great beer, a classic in my mind that still stands out among other great options. I think keeping it as a seasonal release over the years has helped that.

 

Probably not a generally accepted way I'm sure, but I think it would be impossible to duplicate a once a year beer. Components change, and I'm sure recipes are tweaked, but Hopslam today is remarkably different than it was say 5 years ago. IMO not for the better, but that's a personal thing, for others I hope it's the bomb.

 

Have you seen it in NY this year?

 

I'm actually a big fan of Nosferatu. Great art, and one of the first craft beers I ever had!

 

had hopslam on draft this year didn't chase it, it was solid palate has changed so not as impressed as the first time I had it a few years ago but but would pick up a 6er if i found some.I still have a case from last year that is drinking really well

 

I bought my third 6-pack this past weekend.

I hope you enjoy your 6-pack.

Cheers!

 

I liked last year NN, I'd buy it fresh seriously avoid if not.

 

Not yet. One of my contacts who works for a local beer store said they're supposed to receive it sometime around the end of the month.

 

Thanks, Jack! I am eagerly waiting its arrival here in NJ. I would say enjoy yours as well, but I guess the purchase of a third 6-pack speaks for itself.

 

i was just telling someone i think these are the two most overrated beers i have ever had, but in different ways.

nugget nectar: i can't hate on this, it is a good beer, very good even, but i never understood the hype it gets on here. so i would call it overrated from "good to very good" to "world class" if you ask me.

hopslam: this beer is not good. i'm sorry, you could put your favorite local's label on this and watch it go from 98 to 88. when i drink this i wonder how many people would raise an eyebrow if this was in a sam adams rebel variant can. this is of course my opinion, but if anyone is out there on the fence here is another post in favor of not even bothering to find this joke of a beer for some obnoxious price.

 

Since you quoted me, I'll worthlessly ramble on the topic.

I guess that depends on how you define "pale in color." Personally, I do not have a problem with pale ales that approach red, but I'm not a sub-style thinker.

Literally speaking, Celebration wasn't labeled an IPA for most of its life... but not much was in the '80s. I guess "ale" felt adequate enough. Sierra isn't shy about calling it one now. It's likely that the people back then who classified it as an American IPA would have seen it as an important beer in defining the category.

If someone today had to decide the current BJCP category that Nugget Nectar fit into the best, it would probably be the "Red IPA" category rather than amber ale or anything else. (I'm not saying that I subscribe to BJCP categories). Would Celebration be placed there too? Maybe. One thing we can say - without even going back to documents from the mid '80s, the current and extensive BJCP treatment of the IPA categories don't resemble the approach from 2008 (which BTW clearly include Celebration in the standard American IPA category).

Basically, don't put TONS of faith in anything "truly being an IPA."

 

Nugget Nectar USED to get hype, but no longer...in fact it's not even talked about anymore....except this thread. I remember trading it years ago for Pliny etc., but again no more. NN is yesterdays news as is Hopslam.

 

For what it's worth, there's an 8 page thread going in Great Lakes entirely devoted to Hopslam 2017. I don't particularly care for the beer, and it may not trade for KBBS, but clearly someone out there still talks about it.

 

Thanks...that is helpful!!

 

Many people seem to embrace the notion that "a new dance means it's a better dance" however that can translate into the discussion of beer, food, movies, sports, whatever. So maybe that mindset has a bit to do with some of the old favorites not causing as much of a stir as in years past. I firmly believe that many current iterations of craft brews are indeed different than in years past, for many of the reasons that are running through this topic. Also, while not on topic insofar as taste is concerned, price points increasing to obscene amounts has definitely turned off a portion of the craft beer audience. I see in my home area numerous examples of this as beers selling for $1+ per ounce routinely take weeks if not a month or more to kick. Agreed with the comment earlier encouraging folks to drink what they like--seems to sum it all up for me.

 

I'm not sure I would say it still has any "hype". There is a discussion thread for the release, but that's more like "heads up for those that like it, this once-a-year beer is being released".

Rarely does anyone in the Mid-Atlantic sub-forum talk about any of Troegs beers - most people only care about what brewery is selling a $18 4-pack of hazy fruit-flavored IPA this week.