Nectar IPA - Nectar Ales

mithrascruor

California

1.93/5  rDev -49.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 1

12 oz. bottle poured into a mug.

Appearance: Pours a cloudy dark amber color, darker than an IPA should be. Off-white head is decent, but has little retention.

Smell: Deep, strangely sweet malts with a light piney/citrus hop aroma.

Taste: Similar to the taste, but the malt flavor has this mild and sickly sweetness to it. The finish and aftertaste are similar. It is really gross.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and slightly syrupy. Minimal carbonation.

Drinkability: Undrinkable. One of the worst.

Awful and undrinkable. It is rare for me to say that. Looks and smells decent enough, but the taste is awful. I don't know if it is a spoiled batch, but I notice that the taste has a similar nature to that of their Hemp Ale (also not good). I've enjoyed their Red Nectar ale in the past, but the rest of this 6-pack is going down the drain asap.

Serving type: bottle

01-01-2009 04:54:39 | More by mithrascruor

JayAre46

Texas

2.5/5  rDev -35.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

A - 12oz short stubby bottle with a vibrant humming bird on the label that reeks of...Oh Yeah big ups to IPALOVR for this extra appreciated to the fullest, anyway pours transparent deep amber with ruby highlights, good color. off white 1 1/2 finger head that falls leaving spotty lacing and a thick ring around the edges

A - is rather weak, get a sweet caramel malt up front with some sweet fruits fused in and out rather absent, not a big hop presence more of a maltiness.

T - im not sure about the bottling date, but extremely watery and slightly oxidized, fruity and floral, the caramel malt that was in the nose is almost absent, not very bitter at all. again very watery.

M - light bodied a bit too thin for my liking, the carbonation does not help the lacking body where it is almost not existent. ss

O - assuming this is not very fresh and if it is, this is one of the worst ipa's ive had. ill give it the benefit of the doubt and say it can't be fresh and that this one has seen better days. possible avoidance.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2011 04:26:08 | More by JayAre46

sellmeagod

Virginia

2.68/5  rDev -30.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

A decent IPA that drinks well at 6.7 abv.

The cute hummingbird draws you in and the decent head retention is good enough to pass for a decent appearance.

It tastes bitter, but not overly so, and sweet enough to give legitimacy to that hummingbird. I don't think I'll drink it again though, just because of the underwhelming overall feel and ordinariness of this IPA.

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2010 21:04:20 | More by sellmeagod

JerseyKirk

New Jersey

2.73/5  rDev -29.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

A: cooper to red. White head that settled quickly.

S: citrus, pine, grapefruit, lemon. All subtle and weak.

T: Citrusy hop flavors with a slight caramel malt taste. Not very fresh tasting.

M: Medium bodied, good carbonation, lends to the sweeter side.

O: I love bold, hit me in the face ipas. The style dictates really strong smell and taste however this beer doesnt have either. Could be an older bottle or just an average ipa. I'm leaning towards the latter.

Serving type: bottle

01-29-2012 19:53:13 | More by JerseyKirk

JoshVandy

Indiana

2.98/5  rDev -22.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Thanks to IPALOVR for this extra.

355mL bottle into a Town Hall tulip.

A- Pours a dark golden, almost copper, color with about a 1 finger off white head. Has some fairly respectable lacing on the glass.

S- A sweet maltiness comes first, which is fairly odd for an IPA. Subtle citrus and hop notes are next, followed by sweet caramel. Almost smells like a young barleywine. Interesting.

T- Big sticky sweet malts and caramel hit my mouth, then closely behind are the citrus and slight floral notes of the hops. It's pretty strange that the hop profile in this is so subtle, yet the malt presence is borderline overpowering. Not great.

M- Thicker than most, almost chewy, with medium carbonation. This could definitely improve with more carbonation. Slight bitter aftertaste from the hops, thankfully.

O- Frankly, if this bottle didn't say IPA on it, it'd be hard pressed to classify it as one. Way too sweet for the style, in my opinion. This could definitely use some more hops added to it to balance the excessively sweet malt backbone. Average at best.

Serving type: bottle

06-26-2011 21:43:19 | More by JoshVandy

largadeer

Kentucky

3/5  rDev -22.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12 oz bottle with a "bottled on" date (bottled 2 months back FYI).

Appearance: Golden amber with a bit of foggy haze, though clear on the whole. An inch of head rises and falls pretty much immediately thereafter, leaving some sticky lace before settling to a ring. Standard IPA appearance, not bad.

Smell: A mild hop aroma of grapefruit and orange. Light sweetness and resin. Not exactly jumping out of the glass.

Taste & mouthfeel: Mildly hoppy up front, very grapefruity with a fructose sweetness that gradually turns into more of a blood orange flavor. Slight graininess, but leaning toward the fruit. Somewhat oily but light in body overall. Gentle hop bitterness in the finish; this is no West Coast hop bomb. Pretty decent, but lacking in character, especially hop character. The malt base is solid and clean, it just needs a bigger hop profile.

Serving type: bottle

11-25-2008 06:44:04 | More by largadeer

jtierney89

New Jersey

3/5  rDev -22.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a hazy amber with a thin lace of head with lots of oily citric hops on the nose. Little bit of grapefruit in their as well. Lots of tropical sweetness up front with tastes including grapefruit and pomegranate. There's also some malty sweetness up front. finishes with a nice floral bite, the flavors all go really really well together, im impressed.

High in carbonation and medium in body. Super drinkable. Super surprising find.

Serving type: bottle

11-09-2011 23:57:07 | More by jtierney89

beerthulhu

New Jersey

3.03/5  rDev -21.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: A bright orange pour is topped off by an eggshell white head that was one part frumpy, and one party frothy. A medium show of effervesce rises at a moderate pace. Some nice stickage occurs of moderate coverage for a lacing.

S: Pine underbrush, sweet caramel nut toast, with a mixture of dried orange and lemon peels first appears on the nose. Some complexity is only hindered by the light offering coming off very reserved per style.

T: For Flavor the malting was thin, of lightly toasted caramel grains, with an underwhelming amount of bitterness that was more on level of a macro-interpretation and undefined. It does however increase somewhat with some grapefruit/citrus bitterness on the finish but again, felt a bit underwhelming and washy. Not bad, but really nothing definable in anyway earning average regards.

M: Medium bodied with very little effervesce. A citrusy flower coating possibly saves this from subpar mediocrity. Lacked a crispness and sharpness in delivery and was rather laid back and lazy in the mouth.

D: Unlikely repeat. A possible starter/tweener beer for those just starting to get into craft. An ipa with training wheels if you may, that will no doubt fail to raise an eyebrow for the seasonal drinker.

Serving type: bottle

08-20-2010 23:38:45 | More by beerthulhu

Tilley4

Tennessee

3.03/5  rDev -21.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured at a recent tasting at Maria's in Chicago...

A blend of sweet caramel malts meld with citrusy hops... More malt forward than I was expecting from an IPA... This reminds me more of a hoppy Red Ale...

Piney hops are quickly dominated by a sweet caramel maltiness... Rather balanced for an IPA which I would expect in a Pale Ale but not in an IPA...

Enjoyable but not memorable...

Serving type: bottle

11-08-2011 03:08:32 | More by Tilley4

TonyT

Pennsylvania

3.1/5  rDev -19.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

(Review taken from notes)

For an IPA, this beer did not offer much in the smell category. The taste was more malt than hops and offered a thin mouth feel. The ABV was hidden pretty well, which made it a drinkable beer. But the more I drank it, the taste actually dissipated. It got to the point, half way through, that I just took it back to the bar and ordered a different beer.

I don't think that I will revisit this one.

Serving type: bottle

09-21-2008 04:29:50 | More by TonyT

udubdawg

Kansas

3.13/5  rDev -18.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

arrives quite deep amber, nice clarity, topped by a decent off-white head with fair retention and a scant bit of lacing.

citrus, with a surprising amount of caramel behind. Mild alcohol, comes across as a little spicy and generally mixes well with the hops. Clean, no fruitiness, very malt other than sweet caramel.

woah, tons of caramel. Caramel malt bomb. Really detracts from the drinkability. Supposedly fresh, but this is rich, borders on cloying. Sweet background of pale malt, with moderate bitterness with a softened edge. Low hop flavor. Mild alcohol flavor, not too "hot", and a surprisingly big body, creamy in the mouth, moderate carbonation. Not at all the dry IPA I prefer, but nothing really wrong with the style this way. Clean, generally void of faults, but drinkability suffers and the big sweet caramelly body really detract. Decent example, but not one I'll look for again.

Serving type: on-tap

12-13-2011 22:57:21 | More by udubdawg

Iguana

Oregon

3.15/5  rDev -18.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Appearence - Poured a nice shade of amber with a 1 inch head that laced up nicely.

Smell - Smell's of honey, malt, and slight hoppy aroma.

Taste - Taste kinda missed the mark of what I was lookin for, this one seemed more like a amber than an IPA. I was hoping for a nice hoppy beer which this was not.

Mouthfeel - Smooth, nice bitterness finish.

Drinkability - Dont know as i'd session it, but overall not too bad

Serving type: bottle

01-16-2006 00:30:32 | More by Iguana

ccrida

Oregon

3.15/5  rDev -18.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

12 oz. bottle poured into a nonic pint, Nectar IPA is a brassy bronze with an off-white head that decent lace.

Smell is pretty strong, wet floral and watermelon hops, some sulfer. Not that great.

Taste is also a little off...there's a metallic bight or something here. More leaf and melon hop flavor, some sweet caramel malt, waxy phenols. Not spoiled or bad, but just really not that well crafted IMHO, and rather generic.

Mouthfeel is oily and a bit chewy, medium bodied.

Drinkability is ok, there's a bite to it that I don't love, almost grassy. Maybe it's a little long in the tooth?

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2009 01:14:23 | More by ccrida

Floydster

California

3.18/5  rDev -17.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

My dad gave me a twelve ounce bottle out of the six pack he bought from BevMo in Torrance

Pour was a golden brown with a 1/2 inch head that settled quickly

Taste was not that bitter for an IPA and I was expecting more since their Hemp Ale is so spicy

Could drink several of these, light for an india pale ale

Serving type: bottle

09-13-2007 20:52:12 | More by Floydster

Wasatch

Utah

3.2/5  rDev -16.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Pours a clear dark amber color, nice carbonation, tiny head, a little bit of lacing throughout the drink.

S - Scents of slight hops, sweet malts.

T - I'm disappointed in the taste, not hoppy at all like an IPA should be. The taste is sweet malts. This does taste very nice, especially if it was an amber ale instead.

M - Medium body, nice carbonated feel.

D - Drinkable. Humboldt fell short on this one, should be an amber ale, instead of an IPA.

Serving type: bottle

06-11-2006 00:36:03 | More by Wasatch

DogFood11

California

3.2/5  rDev -16.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Copper with orange outer. White head is tight and leaves tons of coating, eventually it falls to a thin cover.

A bit of a funky wet towel type smell hits me up front. Beneath that there is tons of citrus hops. First drink produced plenty of hops, sugary malts, and a rather large warm ending. This is a unique IPA for my taste buds in that it actually starts out with the moderate hop profile and then about 3/4 of the way through there is this barleywine'ish, super sweet, syrupy, sugared malt that just diffuses the brew alltogether. I kinda liked it but boy its one rich IPA.

Notes: I enjoyed this product. It's one of those beers that tastes nice but I could only handle a couple at the most in one sitting, not because of the alcohol splash but because it would start to wear on my palate. Aggressive but in need some refinement. Close to being an excellent beer.

Serving type: bottle

07-13-2006 04:13:23 | More by DogFood11

JDV

Texas

3.2/5  rDev -16.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Clear copper pour with offwhite head. Smell is a bit metallic. Hoppy, and honey sweetness. Nice hop flavor. Kind of a gummy flavor to it. Not as enjoyable for me as the 94% would make me think. Kind of a tea like, hibiscus flavor to it, and probably needs a bit more sweetness. Mild bitterness. Decent.

Serving type: bottle

03-15-2008 19:05:56 | More by JDV

pwoods

Ohio

3.2/5  rDev -16.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz. brown bottle poured into an imperial pint.

A: Pours an average coppery amber with good clarity. Decent sized off white head on the pour with decent retention. Some lacing.

S: Ok American hopping. Plenty of pine but not enough citrus or resin. Lots of biscuity, caramelly malts... over balancing.

T/M: More of the hops. Still plenty of pine and a bit more citrus than in the nose but still not very dominant. The malts definitely over balance the hops with lots of caramel and biscuit and even a rye like flavor. Body is medium or so with mellow carbonation.

D: ABV is exceptable but it's not overly drinkable and just isn't what I look for in an IPA.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2010 06:44:40 | More by pwoods

engagechad

Virginia

3.2/5  rDev -16.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This bottle was purchased as a single from Total Wine in Richmond, VA - Poured into a Victory tulip

Pretty beer with good head retention. Dark bourbon color but clear as a bell, well filtered. Smelled of faint hops and lots of malt. Other reviews say that this is a well balanced IPA but personally I think it's a bit too far on the malt side. Tasted good, but as said in the previous sentence, it's a bit malty. Mouthfeel and drinkability are okay, it was smooth but not incredible.

Conclusion:

I would recommend this beer to a amber ale, brown ale drinker who wants to step into the world of IPAs. Not amazing but I certainly wouldn't turn it down if offered again.

Serving type: bottle

02-15-2011 14:16:44 | More by engagechad

bwyker

New York

3.25/5  rDev -15.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Enjoyed thanks to bennetj17. Shining golden orange with practically no head whatsoever. A slightly lighter yellowish hue around the glass. Very little carbonation. In the first whiff I noticed lots of citrusy hops. After it sat in the glass a bit, the hop aroma gave way to caramel. Taste was similar. Mostly caramel malts with a slight roasted flavor and a decent bitterness from the hops. Mouthfeel was pretty smooth. Light to medium body, with a bit of syrup-like stickyness in the finish. Easy to drink. Nothing overwhelming. Balanced malts and hops. Not too bad.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2006 03:49:46 | More by bwyker

silentjay

Massachusetts

3.25/5  rDev -15.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

pours a glowing light amber/copper with a large eggshell colored head that sticks around a while and leaves some chunky lacing.

caramel malts with some herbal and citrus zesty hops. smells a bit sweet, and some tropical fruits come through as well.

flavor starts out with caramel malts, lightly toasted, a bit of buttered toast, with hops pretty far behind that. hops are a bit spicy and herbal, with very little citrus.

almost medium bodied, but syrupy with ample carbonation and a sticky finish.

overall, looked good, smelled good, but fell from there. would be a decent amber, but is just an average IPA.

Serving type: bottle

04-27-2011 03:13:25 | More by silentjay

denver10

Colorado

3.25/5  rDev -15.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Pours a deep caramel with a double thumbs width cream colored head. A deep caramel, bready aroma hangs alongside some orange. Flavor is a big dose of caramel malt providing some doughiness alongside some citric rind and fruit. Both the flavor and aroma are quite tame. A nice creamy, medium body to this. Overall, a decent brew that I'd try again, though probably not one I will be going out of my way to pick up.

Serving type: bottle

06-30-2012 00:58:23 | More by denver10

blakelive784

Colorado

3.25/5  rDev -15.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

z brown glass bottle served in a pint glass, reviewed live:

A - pours a tempting transparent copper color With lively carbonation and a frothy cream color head. Retention is amazingly good. Appealing.

S - Sweet floral and grassy notes alongside heavy caramel and crystal malts. Incredibly simple but well balanced.

T - light, fresh floral hops. Sweet orange peel. Buttery caramel and sweet base malts. Simple as I'd guessed, but incredibly refreshing. Never oily. No alcohol is detectable.

M - buttery and smooth. A bit to thick.

D - a highly drinkable, albeit simple IPA. Never approaches bitter. Won't satisfy hop heads but a good, easy drinking beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2013 01:58:10 | More by blakelive784

ItMakesMeHappy

New York

3.3/5  rDev -14.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

No born on or best by date. Its a deap copper color and very hazy with a non existant head but it does leave alittle lacing down the glass. Smells biscuity with a small citrus hop presence. The malt backbone is bready and toasty. It ends with a light spicy and citrusy hops presence. Slight hint of wet card board in the finish. For an Ipa the hop aroma and taste was much less then I expected. I am pretty sure this is an older bottle so I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt. The beer has low carbonation and a slick mouthfeel. Although its not the tastiest beer,I must say its got drinkability and I could see haveing a few of these with out much hesitation.

Serving type: bottle

06-02-2009 02:32:00 | More by ItMakesMeHappy

TMoney2591

Illinois

3.3/5  rDev -14.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Served in a Chicago Bears shaker pint glass.

Yet another random single picked up on one of my many beer runs. *sigh* It's a charmed life, really... Anyway, this stuff pours a clear copper-brass topped by a finger of white foam. The nose comprises pine resin, grapefruit peel, orange zest, light pineapple flesh, and a touch of light biscuit. The taste seems to bring in more of the same, with the fruits really dominating the biscuit something fierce. But then the pine comes in, guns blazing, piercing the tongue with sharp, resin-y scythe-swaths. The result is an astringent, almost acidic bitterness from the middle through the finish. Very unpleasant to me. Luckily there's more to things here, or this would really be a shameful product. The body is a light medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a fairly dry finish. Overall, an okay IPA, but that harsh bitterness just ruined things for me.

Serving type: bottle

10-25-2011 01:50:57 | More by TMoney2591