Troegs to Connecticut

Just picked up a 6 pack of nugget nectar at world wide in southington. I'm enjoying it, but if this were a DIPA instead of an amber (and imo, taste wise, the line is pretty fine in this this case) people would be dumping on it and saying it was too malty.

 

Good thing it is not imporperly identified as a DIPA, then! Gotta love a hoppy amber. Proper malt levels and such.

 

I'm not a big fan of Tröegs, which sucks since this brewery is absolutely dominating the tap lines in CT. right now. I like to see distro expanding in the state, but let's take things slow here.

When I saw that every beer bar in the state was doing a Tröegs takeover, I should have known that they'd spend the next week or so getting rid of their less popular beers (i.e. anything not named Nugget Nectar).

 

The difference there is semantic imo (and actually, ratebeer has it listed as an IPA, plenty of reviews ask if it is an IPA too) and is a great example of hypocrisy meets hype.

 

Totally semantic. It seems to be that the hypocrisy is from the user-driven side of things. Troegs' website, marketing, etc, lists nugget nectar as an "imperial amber...
Alcohol by Volume: 7.5%
Hop Bitterness (IBU's): 93ish
Color (SRM): Straw / Orange"

BA says this regarding amber ale (there is no imperial amber, but the ABV in this listing is capped at 7%)
"Primarily a catch all for any beer less than a Dark Ale in color, ranging from amber (duh) to deep red hues. This style of beer tends to focus on the malts, but hop character can range from low to high. Expect a balanced beer, with toasted malt characters and a light fruitiness in most examples. The range can run from a basic ale, to American brewers who brew faux-Oktoberfest style beers that are actually ales instead of lagers."
Then there's the IPA: (which, by BA's description, nugget nectar does fit
"The American IPA is a different soul from the reincarnated IPA style. More flavorful than the withering English IPA, color can range from very pale golden to reddish amber. Hops are typically American with a big herbal and / or citric character, bitterness is high as well. Moderate to medium bodied with a balancing malt backbone.
Average alcohol by volume (abv) range: 5.5-7.5%"

So. Whats my point? Im rambling, and I agree with you lol. I was being half facetious about improper identification.
Nugget Nectar really can be viewed as an IPA, or a double if you wanted to stretch it. But, the brewery does make an effort to remove itself from that category by calling it an imperial amber instead, so I think they are making an effort to say its not an all out hop bomb, and it does have something of a balance to it. Normally a "balanced IPA" is disliked by IPA lovers, because they want huge hop flavors/aromas.

For sure, they arent blowing anyone off of the map, and it totally gets annoying having every bar have all of the new distro on tap all at once. But perpetual and nugget nectar are hoppy, and hoppy must be served fresh. I've seen mostly those two on taplists, I wouldnt mind trying troegenator fresh on tap (not that I expect it to blow me away), and I really want to give cultivator a try. But yeah.
Cheers to added distro, and here's to waiting for the taplists to balance out!

 

Taste is subjective. But if you're not down with Troegenator I question yours.

 

Had a nice reward after a messy and longer than typical ride towards UConn a few nights ago, when getting a pint of Nugget Nectar on tap for the first time at Pub 32. However in terms of "malty" IPAs I would maybe choose G'knight Red IPA, just due to the uniqueness of flavor. Whereas without over-hopping the Nugget Nectar seems like it would be an ok amber ale, I think G'knight would be an excellent Irish Red.