My problem with Nugget Nectar

Things were going so well until you started talking about Perpetual. "Imperial pale ale" is just another name for IPA. There is no difference. I think the legend was that they had never had a non-Scratch beer that was called an IPA and wanted to keep it that way. That could be not true and they just made up the name. Either way, it's not a real style and Perpetual is most certainly an IPA.

 

My problem with Nugget Nectar is that the store that I bought it from somehow got wind of the hype and price gouged me for it. My problem with myself is that I was too much of a ***** to ask the guy at the register at said establishment if they were insane for trying to charge me that much and just walk out.

Really good, seasonal beer. Lots of hops, clearly not at IPA. Sitting on shelves all over the place for a reasonable price.

 

This post sounds like the annual SN Celebration threads..... BTW, NN is damn tasty and I'm happy as hell to buy and drink it every year..

 

Wait...dude what! Did you say something? Nugs Rule! Huh, you've got a problem, huh, whats up you wanna go? Do ya wanna go? I gotta peee...oh, sorry....

 

To be classed in the "general style", does there not have to be some level of similarity/overlap in terms of taste? Being a similar colour is a factor, but not a major one. I can't comment on Ballantine from the 80's - if you and everyone else that was a big drinker of this beer at the time think there are a lot of similarities with NN (and it appears ballantine did use brewers gold), and trust your palate memory enough to compare two beers a few decades apart, then I'll take your word for it. Any other beer currently in production that you mention that I've tried, bears no resemblance to NN as far as my ability to taste beer goes.

As for beer from the 1800s - looking at history is cool, but when we're discussing the stylistic fit for a beer currently in production, it probably doesn't make much sense (to me at least) to compare it to what a beer might have tasted like from more than a century ago (unless you're the real life Connor MacLeod). I'm not much of an expert when it comes to beer history or brewing techniques (both past and present), but my understanding of the "original" IPAs is that yes they were "bigger" in terms of alcohol and hop usage than the modern day British versions, but that the hops were used differently (early vs late etc), and were of a different type - not the more recently developed strains favoured by American breweries today. It's not as if people were chugging beers resembling Heady/Pliny etc back then. Despite nugget being mainly derived from brewers gold, I don't think brewers gold was in existence in the 1800s either.

 

Hopefully 5 years ago when it started being terrible. Just like NN.

 

Am I the only one who clicked on @pumpkin1 profile/avatar to see if they had a Y chromosome? Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Back on topic, count me in with the group that finds NN solid but not memorable.

 

All reasonable points/questions and I can only give you my perspective. To me, Fuller London Pride, say, John Smith Bitter (there is still a cask I believe), and Bass as made in 1860 or today, or say Shipyard Pale Ale today, are all in the same general class, pale ale.

True, Bass was stronger then than now, true, crystal malt didn't exist commercially in 1860. Bass was aged much longer before bottling than now. And in wood. However, you have a tradition of pale-amber beers whose distinction was the hop tended to dominate, either in taste or nose or both and also, the beer was relatively dry compared to the other main ale type, mild. This is still true in England today. East Kent Goldings were a classic pale ale hop in the 1800's and still are. (The development of an American hop-dominated IPA is a much newer development but it is part of the IPA tradition too now).

So: pale-amber in color, an emphatic bitterness and maybe hop nose if dry-hopped, relatively dry on the palate. Mild ale: pale-amber-dark brown, sweet on palate, hops not dominating and rarely dry-hopped. An "amber" is a more recent sub-division of pale ale/IPA and quite useful but to me the NN is an IPA in this way of looking at it. If one accepts the BJCP then I can see the argument more for saying NN is not an IPA as the brewery itself may consider clearly, and fair enough. But I look at it in a different way and seek only to explain why. I honestly did not know when I had the cask NN by the way that Nugget was developed from Brewer's Gold (it has other ancestry as well but more on the bitterness side, not aroma). I only found that out later and all I can say is, when I first tasted that cask NN, it reminded me of the old Ballantine IPA.

There are other ways to look at it that are valid and perhaps I should have explained some of this before baldly stating it is an IPA when the label doesn't say that and the BJCP seems to show it as an amber (or Imperial Amber?), fair enough again.

 

This thread makes my head hurt.

 

I know, it's a micro-level of detail that is irrelevant to what the beer is really all about, but some people are interested in this kind of exercise, different strokes..

 

Seems like a stretch that your palate is so refined and memory so clear you are able to accurately compare the 2015 version of Nugget Nectar to a beer which has not been produced in roughly 30 years.

 

My problem with it is doesn't come to NH. I think it is wonderful, but I think I would take GF Hop Head Red over it.

 

You may be right, all I can do is tell you what happened. Bear in mind a fairly close replication of Bally IPA, called Woodstock IPA I think (made by Alan Kornhauser when he was at Portland Brewing) was available in the 90's and certainly the first bottlings were very close to Bally IPA. So I'm basing it on that too.

 

wish i could try it.

 

Hey, I'd be happy to trade you some NN for some California stuff!

 

I bought a case last month and I am plenty happy with the beer.

But I have noticed that even on the lowest setting, my beer fridge is too cold for this beer. I've been letting my bottles sit out for 30 minutes before opening. Much better aroma and flavor when served a bit warmer.

 

Nugget Nectar is a very very good beer, but as far as hoppy ambers go, there are way better ones. Modern Times Blazing World, Lagunitas Imperial Red, and CCB Tocobaga just to name a few.

 

I nominate this beer for another new style category, Crushable Hop Deliciousness. 'Cause it is.

 

It's an amazing beer when its fresh. I don't understand the hate this beer is getting. I would say it's one of my all time favorites.

 

I'm shocked at the amount of NN still in stores around me...I was at a Wegman's in Eastern PA over the weekend and they had upwards of 15 cases left. I remember not being able to find this beer a few weeks after it's release just a few years ago. Common sense suggests it's being overproduced relative to demand now..

That being said, I've had a rather interesting experience with Nugget this year. The first time I tried it, out of the bottle, I was disappointed relative to years past. Then I tried it out of the can and while better, still wasn't what I expected. However, Monday night I cracked a can after not having any NN for a week or two and couldn't believe the difference. It was fruity, hoppy, everything I expected from it. I had another can last night with the same result...still have 8 cans left thankfully.