Beer of the Week

The beer: Double Nugget

The brewery: Tröegs Brewing Company, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Description (from the website): "Let's take Nugget and double it. Well, it wasn’t quite that easy, but it sure was a fun balancing act. To start, we boosted the Simcoe, and this complex hop’s notes of apricot, peach rings and bright citrus are the star of the show. Azacca enters the picture to add hints of juicy orchard fruit, and Munich malt brings a bready sweetness. To strike a balancing note, Columbus joins Nugget hops, grounding this limited release with a layer of dank pine."

Would I buy it again? I reviewed the normal Nugget Nectar four years ago (almost to the day), which I generally enjoyed but felt was a bit too hoppy. And here we have an imperial amber ale on steroids. Doubled, you might say. And honestly? This one's so close to being amazing. I want to love this one, I really do, but once again, it's just a bit too hoppy. There's that annoying little bit of bitterness on the aftertaste, and while it definitely doesn't ruin the beer, I can't help but be incredibly frustrated by it. So, just like the original, I'm not about to rush out to buy more

Beer of the Week

The beer: Nugget Nectar Ale

Brewed by: Tröegs Brewing Company, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Description (from the website): "It’s impossible to forget your first squeeze. Once a year, as the newest humulus lupulus harvest arrives at Tröegs, we blend these super-fresh hops into an Imperial Amber Ale. Excessively dry-hopped, Nugget Nectar is an explosion of pine, resin and mango."

Would I buy it again?: This beer is an interesting one. A hoppy amber ale is clearly not a winter beer, but Tröegs only releases Nugget Nectar once a year, in January. And that's kind of the point; it's a taste of summer in the middle of winter. As for the beer itself, I wish it was a little less excessively dry hopped, to be honest. It's definitely a good beer, but it's a little too hoppy for my taste. Not something I'd rush to buy again.