Thursday, March 4, 2010

Harrisburg's Seasonal Heavy Weight

Nugget Nectar: the Nectar of the gods or over-hyped hoppiness?

Nugget Nectar on cask at Zeno's... It's been long awaited and there have been whispers of its coming for weeks, the first two casks lasted less then a week. People came in mid day just to make sure they got a pint and I was looking forward to it just as much as everyone else.

Troegs labels it as a Imperial Amber. So what does that actually mean? As many of us at Zeno's like to say when people ask for an amber... Amber is a color... Troegs Nugget Nectar is an Imperial or stronger (to over simplify the term) version of their Hop Back Ale, which is named after a vessel in the brewhouse called a hopback. (if you wanna know what it is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopback) The Nugget Nectar is the hoppier and more flavorful older brother of the Hop Back. Both beers are classified as American Ambers or Red Ales.


For a beer with a slogan like: "Squeeze those hops for all they're worth and prepare to pucker up," I expected much more flavor, but the flavor that was there was great for hop lovers. Flowert hops with slight citrus and even some pine hints to it. It was a great balance and flavor if you like hopes, but for the hype id have liked stronger flavor and a little bit of a punch in the face. I expected more from an imperial version of their flagship beer, just like I've always expected a little more from the state capital that it comes from. Lets just say that its now quite up to the Philly or Pittsburgh quality that it could be.

- Nathan

QUICK TASTE

Troegs Nugget Nectar
Harrisburg, PA

ABV% 7.5

Imperial Amber

Appearance: Cloudy yellowish brown

Aromatics: Sweet Hops

Taste: Dry, Mellow, Hints of Citrus, Dominated by Hops

Notes: Made with five types of hops, Although this beer is very good I think it gets a little bit over-hyped because it only comes out once a year. However, it's definitely one of the better beers made by Troegs (and maybe even coming out of PA) and worth hunting down, especially if you like your hops.

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