Trafalgar Hop Nouveau

Brewed by Trafalgar Ales & Meads
Style: English Pale Ale
Oakville, Canada

Serve in English pint

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Bottle from LCBO
Brewed 2012.08.27, bottled 2012.09.15, bb 2013.01
Hazy or cloudy blond color, with evidently excessive carbonation, huge head. The aroma is not right; there is some nice wild strawberries (very light) with strong yeast, and some green hops. Smooth mouthfeel; strong spicy malt flavor, with a funky touch, yeasty, followed by gentle toffee; strongly bitter, although possible hop qualities have faded; long final, powerful, a bit harsh (because of the yeast too, probably).
It seems to be a rough beer; maybe the funkiness has developed unexpectedly; I’m willing to try it again, fresher.

If i had noticed in the LCBO that this was a Trafalgar brew, i wouldn’t have bought it in the first place, but i was intrigued by the idea of a "wet hopped pale ale". I’m from the school of thought that only well-cured hops develop their full expression of flavor. But nonetheless i thought i’d try it. First off, way too carbonated. Its a pale ale not a soda pop. Aroma is light citrus fruit and grass, slightly metallic, very little malt aroma. Taste is of citrus and pine, moderately bitter, weak body, not much of a finish. Nothing too great. Not for $5.95 anyway. There are pale ales from Ontario that aren’t specialty beers like this, that blow this beer out of the water anyday. When you buy a special celebration sized bottle of a specialty beer, at $5.95, you think you’re getting a real treat. I could have picked up any $2.50 pale ale can and had a better hop session. Trafalgar needs to sell their mash tuns and start making soda or energy drinks because their beer blows.

2012 bottle from the brewery. Pours a pale straw yellow that’s slightly cloudy with a bit of white head that dissipates quickly. Smell is mainly citrus and spruce hops, lots of hops, also maybe a bit of fruitiness. Palate quite light though a bit oily and the carbonation kind of attacks you. Taste is quite hoppy and bitter at first though there’s a good bit of malty sweetness for a moment. This all gets overwhelmed with lots and lots of bitter hops, even lingering in the aftertaste. It’s a decent IPA, but not at all an EPA.

650 ml bottle, 2012 Edition from czar. Shared with czar and friends. A hazy orange amber with a nice, lasting white head. Smell is herbal, floral, oranges. Taste is sweet, fruity, orange. Very strong grapefruit injection in the finish. Lemon, lime, orange, pretty much all kinds of citrus I can think of, but God the grapefruit bitterness is THERE. Light body, somewhat oily and resinous mouthfeel. Carbonation is, unfortunately, way too strong. A very solid wet hop, that is unfortunately hindered by its overly aggressive carbonation.

pours hazy, almost cloudy, pale yellow-greyish with a towering white head, overbubbly here - defect. metal, vegetal and a funky strawberry-citrusy hoppy aroma. faint malts, hay. aggressive carbonation, light body -watery, disturbing grapefruity finish. classic trafalgar crap.

For a yearly hopped beer I expected something with a scent. Something that smells more than wet. There’s white head that’s clinging a lot but leaving no actual lacing. Rather full mouth. Big rush of flavour that actually surprised me after the smell. There’s some tartness and a touch of sweet and then a really strong hops that takes over. It’s not strangling though. It grabs you by the uvula but lets go quick. It’s doesn’t have the figure four uvula hold that most Pale Ales have which for me is a good thing. I usually don’t enjoy Trafalgar, the hops they use it not to my taste, but I do enjoy this one. It’s not the best beer I’ve had but not bad at all. Score one for Trafalgar.

Wow this is quite an intense beer. Very strong aroma, strange bitter and sort of "bad" flavour, hard to explain the taste. Almost tastes burnt. An interesting beer, I’m not sure if I’m a very big fan but it’s alright.

2012 Bottle Pours a hazy orange from a bomber with a quick fizzle of foam... no lacing. Aroma is heavy on sweet malts and some grapefruit notes but the malt is up front. High carbonation and good mouth feel followed by astringent bitterness and a medium aftertaste on the sides of the tongue. Any hints of citrus or floral hops are overpowered by harsh bitterness and malty caramel notes, making for a somewhat disappointing taste overall. Not a bad beer, but I did expect something with more upfront hoppy punch and complexity, and at 5% it is a little bit of a lightweight... even in a big bomber.

Pours hazy with strong head. Aroma isn’t very hoppy and more of a sour feel. Taste is stronger in malts than hops leaving a sour/bitter taste.

2011 version. Hazy gold pour, 1 finger of head. Grapefruit, Orange and a bit of buttery diactyl in the aroma. Grapefruit, pine up front. A very slight bit buttery. Small gobs of lacing. Fairly easy drinking, but this one was probably on its last legs. Had they the desire to ever listen to criticm even in the slightest this would be a beer withpotential.