Humboldt Gold Nectar Ale

Formerly brewed at Humboldt Brewing (Firestone Walker, Nectar Ales)
Style: American Pale Ale
Arcata, California USA

Tasting Notes from Fall 2000: Fairly well hopped. Well rounded and stays on the palate well. Pretty full-bodied

Copper colored with some hops and bready malt and honey in the aroma dna taste. Somewhat light at the end, but not bad for a gold ale. One of the darker gold ales I’ve seen. Humboldt impresses me.

Head is initially average sized, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is dark yellow. Aroma is lightly malty (cookie) moderately hoppy (flowers). Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation.

Medium gold color, medium head. Light malts and hops. Malt aroma. Nice malty taste, some sweetness with a mild yet aggressive hopping. Good balance. Nice flavor, malty and hoppy. Finish is crisp and light. Aftertaste is mildly bitter.

This is more of a reddened or browned gold than a gold that leans toward yellow. Small tan head. Nose is malt and hops. Some brown sugar characteristics seem to be hiding in there as well. Taste has some sweetened malts notes, along with some bitterness with the added hops, and perhaps some hints of fruit. There is some tang to the body and a bitterness during the finish due to the hops. Good beer but not great.

An extraordinarily tasty ale. Fresh and beautiful, just like the coast of northern California, where this fine beer is made.

The beer after its pour from the 12-ounce brown bottle sets in the glass somewhat hazy gold with a large bright white head that is semi-creamy in texture with the leftover lace a thin sheet to cover the glass. Nose is cotton candy sweet, fresh and clean with the start quite sweet and the malt adequate, top is light in its feel to the palate. Finish is benignly acidic, the hops meek and the aftertaste dry, drinkable beer.

Crystal clear amber coloured body wiht a thinnish off-white coloured head. Aroma of fresh floral grapefruit hops with a nice caramel scent with a strong malt presence. Light-bodied; Strong grapefruit hop flavour with a mild malt backbone. Subtle caramel and sugary flavours, but mainly the hops last a while. Aftertaste shows some of the hops, but not much else. Overall, a decent APA, not showing too much else than hops and not showing a ton of hops either. All-in-all, an average beer. I sampled this 12 ounce bottle purchased from Norm’s in Vienna, Virginia on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on 15-January-2005.