Tröegs Nugget Nectar

Beer: Nugget Nectar
Brewery: Tröegs Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Amber Ale
ABV: 7.5%

Serving Style: Bottle
Drinking Establishment: Chez Wood
Primary Consumer: Kerensa

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OVERALL RATING:

Sight: Crystal clear amber body with a small white head that quickly dissipates.

Smell: This might be the best smelling beer of all time, if you enjoy the smell of sweet, pungent, juicy, piney hops.

Flavor: I’ve started plenty of these “flavor” sections with “if only it tasted as good as it smelled” or “well, this tastes NOTHING like it smells.” This won’t be one of those reviews (except for the fact that I technically did start with those statements). Indeed, this beer tastes like a big serving of sweet, pungent, juicy, piney hops. As insanely hoppy as this beer is, it is almost equally balanced with a caramel sweetness. There is nothing else on the planet like this beer.

Feel: Medium body with moderate carbonation.

Concluding Remark: Depending on your level of beer geek, you might be aware that Tröegs’ Nugget Nectar has a cult following. You, like myself, might be the high superior wizard of that cult. If so, there’s no need to keep reading; you already know of the magical powers that this beers possesses. And by magical powers, I mean the power of tasting like rainbows, world peace, and waterfalls. If you are not yet acquainted with the holiness of Nugget Nectar, ignore every recommendation I have ever written in CAPITALS on this site. What I’m about to say is the only truth that matters: Tröegs, a microbrewery out of Hershey, Pennsylvania, makes the best beer in the United States (well, the best beer that is readily available on the East Coast in the early winter months).

praising the lord of Nugget.

Nugget Nectar, regardless of how long it sits on your bedroom floor as you painfully wait to review it, tastes like the moment its  hops and barley were first plucked from their hallowed grounds–fresh and heavenly. When people ask, “if you could only drink one beer for the rest of your life, what would it be,” I answer Nugget Nectar nine times out of ten.*

*If it happens to be a hot day, sometimes I get nostalgic for drinking fresh pilsners in snowy Prague and might say Pilsner Urquell. Or, if it happens to be Oktoberfest season, I might answer Hofbrau’s Oktoberfest. Or, if I’m craving something dark and sweet at that moment…NO, I will still pick Nugget Nectar. Clearly, the only things that trumps Nugget are nostalgic travel memories.

ANYWAYS. I don’t know what else I can say about the world’s most perfect beer, other than that it is the world’s most perfect beer. It is the world’s most perfect beer.

the most beautiful sight in all of the land.

The key ingredients to perfection, in you case you haven’t read it in a Buzzfeed list or in Lifestyle yoga mat tips for the freelancer biannual zine, are: Pilsner malts, Vienna malts, Munich malts, Nugget hops, Warrior hops, Tomahawk hops, Simcoe hops, and Palisade hops.

You’ll be able to find Nugget Nectar in stores for the next few weeks, so get it while supplies last (they usually do not). Even better, try to find it on tap. I had the incredible fortune of finding it at a new pizza place in DC last year, and I pretty much had a flavorgasm while eating dinner with my father. Awkward.

We started  this two-month journey through the world of Amber (and Red) Ales with Tröegs’ HopBack Amber Ale, and we end with Tröegs’ Nugget Nectar, which Tröegs says is the HopBack “intensified…to create an explosive hop experience.” Well done, Tröegs. Take a nearly perfect beer and make it unquestionably perfect; most would settle on just great enough.  Dareisay that Tröegs might have cornered the market on the Amber Ale. And I’m fine with that.

Tröegs HopBack Amber Ale

Beer: HopBack Amber Ale
Brewery: Tröegs Brewing Company
Style: American Amber Ale
ABV: 6.0%

Serving Style: Bottle
Drinking Establishment: Chez Wood
Primary Consumer: Kerensa

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OVERALL RATING:

Sight: Whatever the Pantone # is for the quintessential amber color, this beer is it. There’s a tiny nothingness of a head.

Smell: Wow, this is a juicy, fragrant beer. The aroma is heavy on the hops, which are of the pine and citrus variety.

Flavor: While not as not as satisfyingly juicy as it smells, the hop flavor is super piney with a dose of lemon zest. Although it’s not particularly balanced, the hop flavor is crisp and refreshing like a spring morning.

Feel: Medium body, with medium carbonation.

Concluding Remark: Another solid Amber Ale brought to us from Tröegs. It is lacking a full malt sweetness that would balance the piney hop flavor and add some depth to the beer, but all in all, HopBack is quite a delicious and hopalicious ale. Um…it’s bringing hoppy back? I’m already envisioning a Lonely Island parody of Brining Sexy Back as Andy Samberg prances in a field of hops. Speaking of delicious…

Tröegs Mad Elf

Beer: Mad Elf
Brewery: Tröegs Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
ABV: 11.0%

Serving Style: Bottle
Drinking Establishment: Chez Wood
Primary Consumer: Kerensa

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OVERALL RATING:

Sight: Clear dark ruby body with no head. Little bubbles gather at the edge of the glass, though.

Smell: It smells like a Belgian Tripel: bananas, bandaids, cloves. With immense loads of honey and brown sugar.

Flavor: As I remember, Mad Elf is a syrupy punch in the mouth. It tastes like a combination between a Belgian Tripel and a Weizenbock–the latter evoked due to a similar fruity/estery flavor resulting from this guy’s insanely high ABV (11%). Prominent flavors are bananas, cherries, raisins, and brown sugar. It kind of tastes like a cherry danish, if I had to make a food comparison.

Feel: Thin but supremely carbonated–a godsend given the nature of this beer. It feels like vodka going down the back of my throat.

Concluding Remark: What can I say about Mad Elf other than this beer is exactly what a Mad Elf would drink…and then he would immediately overdose. It has one of the highest ABVs of the holiday season, making it a staple in many holiday shopping lists. The Mad Elf is a Strong Belgian Dark Ale. The Belgian character (i.e., the banana and clove flavors) is achieved from the use of a Belgian yeast. Tröegs puts on a twist on a European classic by adding Pennsylvania Honey West Coast cherries–a whole lot of them. The result is a sweet, fruity dark ale. Is it the most perfect beer of all time? No. But it’s surprisingly easy to drink given the high ABV and is guaranteed to give you some sort of spirit–holiday or not. As you keep drinking you become more and more infected but the Mad Elf Syndrome and you begin to care little about the nuances of beer…………………………..

As Troegs says, this beer will “warm your heart [literally] and enlighten your tongue.” It will also warm your brain and blood. The bottom line is is that if you can handle a little bit of sweet in your life, this is a perfect holiday beer. If you can’t, you might want to go looking elsewhere, and actually, avoid holiday beers and celebrations altogether.

This is a Keebler Elf-approved beer.

TYIB REVIEW OFF: Troegenator Double Bock

What happens when Get Blitzed Day rolls around and the ladies at The Year in Beer both want to get blitzed on the same brew?  Well, a TYIB Review Off, of course!  Read on to get a double review of this Double Bock from Pennyslvania-based brewery Tröegs.

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REVIEW OFF: THE BEER

Beer:  Troegenator
Brewery: Tröegs Brewing Company
Style: Doppelbock
ABV: 8.2%

REVIEW OFF: CONTESTANT 1, ALLY

Serving Style: Bottle
Glassware: Tulip glass
Drinking Establishment: Stuff Yer Face, New Brunswick, NJ
Primary Consumer: Ally

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OVERALL RATING:

Sight: Dark amber, like maple syrup.  Foamy white head that recedes quickly.

Scent: Sweet malts, with notes of figs and raisins.

Flavor: Malty sweetness balanced with bitter hops, with some citrus zest, raisins, and other dried fruit flavors lingering in there as well.

Feel:  Rich, crisp, with moderate carbonation.

Concluding remarks:  Chocolate isn’t the only amazing edible being produced in Hershey, Pennsylvania; Tröegs Brewing Company is releasing some pretty great brews that rank highly on the Pint Glass Scale–not least among them their version of the Doppelbock.  Winner of many a medal at the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup, the Troegenator is a well-balanced Bock that lives up to the monastic tradition of being “liquid bread.”  It’s a substantial beer, but very drinkable, and the bitter hops and sweet malts complement each other nicely.

REVIEW OFF: CONTESTANT 2, KERENSA

Serving Style: Bottle
Glassware: Pilsner glass
Drinking Establishment: Kerensa’s kitchen
Primary Consumer: Kerensa

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OVERALL RATING:

Sight: Murky, dark mahogany body with no head.

Scent: Sweet dark pumpernickel bread with a bit of raisins and a lingering note of alcohol.

Flavor: The ‘Nator tastes like liquid creme brûlée bread pudding. (Now if only that existed in food form.) There is a very slight smoke presence, too.

Feel: Thin body with little carbonation. It feels warm from the alcohol content.

Concluding remarks:  This is the best Doppelbock I’ve had this month. As there is little carbonation, the complex yet balanced flavor takes the spotlight. The alcohol note is hidden in taste, but you’ll feel Tröegs’s brew in your cheeks. All in all, this Bock is exceptionally delicious.