Nugget Nectar 2012 : Opinions

I thought the exact same thing. The nose last year, and each year before that, smelled like kind bud. Not getting that this year, and the taste seems more bitter, and boozier than I remember (and believe me when I tell ya I know what Nugget Nectar tastes like). It's still good....just seems a bit off.

 

I would love to agree with you or disagree with you. Unfortunately, it seems that there is a shortage in North Jersey. I just left a store that got 25 cases on Tuesday afternoon and it is gone. The owner said last year they got 100 cases. They may get a second shipment.
I am going to make another couple of stops on the way home. If 2012 is going tobe a year without Nugger Nectar, I am not going to be a happy man.

 

I agree completely. Still a great beer but a little lacking this year. The nose isn't quite there and definitely more boozy and bitter. I thoughts the it was just me.

 

I do remember lasts years batch being a lot brighter initially than this years batch. More on the grapefruit juice initial flavor than the pine. The pine this year seems to be a lot more at the back of the palate at the finish rather than at first sip-where it usually comes through. The finish is just a hair more crass and bitter than it has been in previous years.

Either way, IMO, its still pretty green- I prefer it in a few weeks when the hops step back just a hair and the caramel malt really comes through. Then its super smooth, really hoppy, and unbeatable

 

I was able pick up a case on the way home. Just got a chance to drink one and it is fantastic. I am not going to try and compare it to my memory of a taste from 9 or 10 months ago. I am just going to enjoy while it is around.

 

I agree that the nose is more subdued. Smells nice at first but fades fast as you drink. Tastes amazing though!

 

I had my first bottle of this years batch last night and thought the same thing. I like it a bunch, but the aroma isnt what it was last year.

 

Is it me or is Nugget Nectar not as hoppy or spicy this year?

 

I'm afraid to bite as this may be some feckless continuation of the deflated Celebration joke.

 

***thread merged with HopSlam thread***

 

It is too fresh, you have to let it sit in the bottle for a little bit...

 

..but don't they change the recipe each year?

I noticed nothing different about this years NN vs. prior years. I enjoy it every bit as much.

 

Just picked up a case!! Cant way to pop them open!

 

Same here. I find it hard to imagine that subtle changes in flavor are that easily detected when the person hasn't tasted it in roughly one year, but whatever. It's tastes amazing and exactly what I remember it to be.

 

I find it less spicy this year.

 

The alcohol is definitely more pronounced this year. I've never picked up the taste of vodka in a 7.5%er... until the 2012 batch of NN. Beyond that, it's still a good beer.

 

Tastes just as delicious as it was last year. Only reason I haven't drained my six pack is because it's 7.5% abv. I'll enjoy the hell out of this through the weekend. Three-day old Nugget Nectar.......ain't nothin' better.

 

I got a case of the 2-20 batch on Monday of this week. First bottle was really enjoyable, hoppier than last year. Then I waited for some sinus issues to be resolved.

I didn't have any others until tonight. Again, first bottle was great- hoppy as hell, with an undefinable undertone (I initially thought it to be a spicy phenol) adding complexity. Then I had another and another. And then that undefinable character came into clear-as-day focus. Sorry to report this folks, but that something turned out to be barely perceptable (to me, at least) diacetyl, and it gets stronger by the glass until it is unmistakable. Obviously, it's not so in-your-face to be a real flaw, but I haven't experienced this with NN before and don't think it stands up to repeat drinks as much as in years past.

I guess the question is this: is this a batch issue, or something larger?

 

This exact same thread happens every single year. Literally. It also happens for Hopslam, Celebration, and a bunch of other beers. If Pliny was widely released you'd probably see it for that as well.

While beers do tweak recipes a bit from year to year, the problem is usually moreso with the drinker. Over time your palate grows and experiences new things. What wowed you a year ago won't wow you now. So you get all excited and built up for the awesomeness that is Nugget Nectar, and then you taste it and it just won't live up to the beer you've built up in your mind.

I'm drinking my first one of the year right now - it's more or less the same exact beer as the last couple of years... a nice hoppy amber IPA.