Author: Drews Brews Reviews

Tröegs Brewing – Nugget Nectar (2015) Review

Posted on by Drews Brews Reviews

Nugget NectarAll You Need to Know

Brewery: Tröegs Brewing
Style: Imperial Amber/Red
ABV: 7.5%
Cost: $4 (12oz)
Glassware: Pint
Temp: 45°F
Availability: January in PA
Purchased@: The Fridge

Quick Take: Nugget Nectar has always been a solid beer over the years and one that I’ve enjoyed whether from frequent growler fills or bottles. A great drinker that is a highlight of the Amber style, but not a hugely complex beer for featuring hops. Nugget Nectar is the beer to bridge the gap between a malty Amber ale and a citrusy IPA, making it an option for the IPA curious to start their journey to full hop head. Balanced and highly drinkable.

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DBR Beer Year in Review (Part 2 – The Local BBBs)

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dbr 3Part 2 of my retrospective finds me mentally tumbling through the local bars, breweries and bottle shops that made 2014 the year of beer. With this, I can finally put 2014 to bed and wake up to the beer-filled dawn of 2015.  There’s plenty to get to with the release of Hopslam, Founder’s RIS, Nugget Nectar cans and everything else that makes winter drinking great. I also preview some of my plans for the Web site this year, so let’s get to it…

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Is Sierra Nevada’s Controversial Hop Hunter IPA a Revolution in Wet Hops?

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???????????????????I took a break from mentally traveling back through yesteryear for Part 2 of my 2014 retrospective when I came across some rather intriguing news about Sierra Nevada and a certain hop hunting IPA. While most have focused on the now defunct lawsuit from Lagunitas over font and typography, there is an intriguing beer buried in the controversy. Now, SN is known for playing around with hops. They were the first to use wet hops long ago and you need look no further than the recently released Harvest Wild Hop IPA with Neomexicallious, a hop found growing in the wilds of New Mexico. For these hop dynamos, the announcement of a new IPA should come as no surprise, but the process in making this beer does.

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Element Brewing – Altoberfest Review

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Element - Altoberfest 2All You Need to Know

Brewery: Element Brewing
Style: Alt Oktoberfest
ABV: 8.35%
Cost: $11.49 (24oz)
Glassware: Pint or Mug
Temp: 45°F (280.35 Kelvin)
Availability: Fall
Purchased@: Westbrook Maine Bottle Shop

Quick Take: I’m not the biggest Alt fan, but do like a quality Oktoberfest, and this beer pulls in both directions (as you’d imagine). This is one for Alt fans close to the brewery or that have easy access to Element beers. For me, it’s not worth going out of my way to score one, but if I happen to be in Element’s neighborhood with a hankering for beer, I might pick it up.

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DBR Beer Year in Review (Part 1 – The Beers)

Posted on by Drews Brews Reviews

dbr 3Ah 2014, a year of much stuff, many things, and plenty of beer. It is the year that I transitioned from a purely video beer blog to a Web site featuring beer and brewery reviews, taking on a major commitment to the beverage that I love. This commitment will continue into the new year with plans for more brewery and event reports/reviews, plenty of thoughts on brews both new and aged, and a few new features I hope to get off the ground.

But now is the time to reflect on the beers of drinking past, and to that end I’ve compiled the list of my favorite beers of 2014. These are beers that not only impressed me with their quality over all other beers I had last year, but are the ones that I will be looking forward to in 2015 as well.

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