Troegs Brewing Company

Hershey, PA

Nugget Nectar Imperial Amber Ale

7.5% ABV

For hop heads, there are a lot of beers that fall under the “must have” category. Pliny the Elder, Bell’s Hopslam, Avery Maharaja and so on are all beers I hear fellow hop lovers say you HAVE to try.

Included in that list is Troegs’ Nugget Nectar, a 7.5% imperial amber ale that is as hoppy as your average imperial IPA but with a bit more on the malt side. It’s always eluded my grasp since we’re out of their distribution area, but since I’ve got friends in the Big Apple, I was able to get some shipped to me this week.

The color on Nugget Nectar is really nice. A deep, rich amber color with a lighter orange around the curve of the glass. There’s a really foamy head on top that linger for a good bit.

The smell is part East Coast IPA, part West Coast IPA. There are really rich tropical fruits – papaya, orange, melon, peach – but there’s also a hint of pineapple and a light toffee note. It all blends together really nicely into that lush, mellow smell you’d get with an DIPA.

The taste is really mixed. There’s a crazy bitterness from the hops concentrated on the front of the tongue, which gives way to the really rich bouquet of tropical fruits in the middle of the mouth. On the back is a a really bitter maltiness with a bit of sweetness. There’s kind of a bready, toffee aftertaste that lingers on the back of your throat.

It’s not quite what I expected it to be – I was expecting a bit more of an IPA taste – but with it being a amber ale, that maltiness is expected.  But damn, it’s a great beer.