Trafalgar Hop Nouveau

G.M. Gillman · Post by **G.M. Gillman** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:22 pm

Very nice, natural-tasting beer with a full hop flavour (more flavour than bitterness). I drank it at room temperature and its best qualities come out that way. Those Tillsonburg hops are excellent, sort of Goldings-like with another flavour I recognise from some of Charles Maclean's beers brewed from Ontario hops. (Wet stone maybe?). A local English-style bitter which reminds me of English real ale at its best. Well done.

Gary

carguy · Post by **carguy** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 9:23 pm

First time in a long time I purchased a Traflagar product, first time in an even longer time that I actually enjoyed a Trafalgar product. It was a pretty good beer.

El Pinguino · Post by **El Pinguino** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:36 pm

Agree with many of you....this is a tasty brew and I'll pick up more.
Nothing over the top, but refreshingly drinkable without typical Trafalgar issues.
Hopefully a sign of more things to come....

lagerale · Post by **lagerale** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 7:28 pm

carguy wrote:First time in a long time I purchased a Traflagar product, first time in an even longer time that I actually enjoyed a Trafalgar product. It was a pretty good beer.

Same for me. Pleasantly surprised by this one.

pootz · Post by **pootz** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:05 pm

I'm intrigued by the reviews. Maybe this is a proto run with a new strain of yeast ...hallelujah!

I think I'll give it a try....but just one... If I get a mouth full of their usual bottle-o-bugs I'm blaming you guys.

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:06 pm

pootz wrote:I'm intrigued by the reviews. Maybe this is a proto run with a new strain of yeast ...hallelujah!

I think I'll give it a try....but just one... If I get a mouth full of their usual bottle-o-bugs I'm blaming you guys.

It is pretty good Dave. I think you'll like it.
But try it right now and fresh cause you never know what'll happen to their stuff.

pootz · Post by **pootz** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 8:39 am

SteelbackGuy wrote:
pootz wrote:I'm intrigued by the reviews. Maybe this is a proto run with a new strain of yeast ...hallelujah!

I think I'll give it a try....but just one... If I get a mouth full of their usual bottle-o-bugs I'm blaming you guys.

It is pretty good Dave. I think you'll like it.
But try it right now and fresh cause you never know what'll happen to their stuff.

Oh I'm well aware of Trafalger brews going stale fast, particularly if stored at at room temp. So their distributor (LCBO) was excellerating this problem.

Part of other issues was a sour yeast taste that lay just below malt profile that came up prominently in the stale beer. That's why I used to go to the brewery to ensure I had fresh samples to taste. I just gave up on reviewing this brewer because of the consistently underwhelming one off clone brews they were doing, and I hardly ever drink their standard brands. So it seemed like so much wasted effort and money reviewing them. I figure it's best to not say anything about a struggling brewer than kick them when they're trying to turn it around with negative reviews (Steelback was an exceptional case).

If there is a turn around I'll be the first to eat a large crow casserole with this new Trafalger offering.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:20 pm

Agreed that 'buggy mouth taste' is nasty in a beer.

I actually wanted to drink more Hop Nouveau, but the cost is a bit out of whack with what is really an enjoyably simple, light bitter. Maybe they can work on the price because people have way better uses for six dollars (7.50 gets me three Denisons!) Wish Trafalgar good will on this effort either way.

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:23 pm

It was one of the best Traflagars I've ever had, but please do not take that as a recommendation. Here's my BA review:

For those who don't know, Trafalgar is far from the best brewery in our province. They have had trouble with infected beers, and even when they are in good shape they're pretty bad examples of what they are supposed to be. Hop Nouveau continues that trend.

Pours a clear gold with a thin white head that had reasonable retention and laid down some fingers of lace. The aroma still manages to smell crap despite including creamy malt, mango, flowers and earthy citrus hops. There's just something run of the mill to it. Likewise, the flavour suffers from a lack of a solid malt base. What there is seems too weak and almost corny. The hops come through with herbal tones and some pine, but the bitterness is more or less AWOL compared to other fresh hopped beers. Its a bit mediocre, but good for this brewery. Mouthfeel is too light and watery.

Another fail.

I like to support local breweries, but there are far better local options on the shelf than this. A nice fresh bottle of Cameron's Auburn of True North IPA kicks its ass in the hop profile stakes.

Gedge · Post by **Gedge** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 5:51 pm

I don't mind this one. It's not revelatory, but a step in the right direction. Still can't understand why their beers are so undercarbonated (the cedar was like this too). Not sure I would buy again as (a) at $6 you might as well buy 6 DFH 60 or 6 ST IPA and (b) there were floaties in my bottle (presumably yeast sediment).

JesseMcG · Post by **JesseMcG** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 8:55 pm

Gedge wrote:I don't mind this one. It's not revelatory, but a step in the right direction. Still can't understand why their beers are so undercarbonated (the cedar was like this too). Not sure I would buy again as (a) at $6 you might as well buy 6 DFH 60 or 6 ST IPA and (b) there were floaties in my bottle (presumably yeast sediment).

6 DFH sure costs more than $6... something like $12-$14. Same with the ST IPA.

But I agree in that I'd rather put my $6 towards a 6'er of those IPAs... or many other beers for that matter.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 12:48 pm

JesseMcG wrote:
Gedge wrote: at $6 you might as well buy 6 DFH 60 or 6 ST IPA and (b) there were floaties in my bottle (presumably yeast sediment).
6 DFH sure costs more than $6... something like $12-$14. Same with the ST IPA.

For clarity, let's look at cost in terns of comparable volume.

ST - 13.75 per 2130 ml - is 13.15 + 60 cents deposit - so net cost = $4.01 per 650 mls
DFH - 14.55 per 2130ml - is 13.95 + 60 cents deposit. - so net cost = 4.26 per 650 mls

Trfalgar - 5.95 - is 20 cents deposit + 5.75 net cost per 650 mls.

... making the local beer 35 to 43 % more costly than the imports, if we just compare volume.

JesseMcG · Post by **JesseMcG** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 1:07 pm

Belgian wrote:
JesseMcG wrote:
Gedge wrote: at $6 you might as well buy 6 DFH 60 or 6 ST IPA and (b) there were floaties in my bottle (presumably yeast sediment).
6 DFH sure costs more than $6... something like $12-$14. Same with the ST IPA.
For clarity, let's look at cost in terns of comparable volume.

ST - 13.75 per 2130 ml - is 13.15 + 60 cents deposit - so net cost = $4.01 per 650 mls
DFH - 14.55 per 2130ml - is 13.95 + 60 cents deposit. - so net cost = 4.26 per 650 mls

Trfalgar - 5.95 - is 20 cents deposit + 5.75 net cost per 650 mls.

... making the local beer 35 to 43 % more costly than the imports, if we just compare volume.

That was already clear to me.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 1:41 pm

Fresh produce in a boutique market is often more expensive, and this is exactly that.

While the IPA's mentioned are hoppier (as an IPA should be), those hops have been processed and stored for up to a year.

Trafalgar went from harvest to glass in under a month. That's what you're paying for. (Wet hops aren't oxidized, so they do have different flavours as well).

As for the hops, Sterling was bred to be a new-world replacement of Saaz. So it's more grassy & floral (rather than citrusy & piny like pacific northwest hops). I like it, but Willamette probably would've been more appropriate for the pale ale style.

I'd love to see them do it again, and I'd love to see even more brewers doing wet-hopped ales, so I'll probably buy a few more bottles.

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 2:48 pm

Derek wrote:Fresh produce in a boutique market is often more expensive, and this is exactly that.

If I'm paying boutique prices I want boutique quality! They also need to step up their game on the labelling - it sure as hell doesn't look like a product worth $6, regardless of what's in the bottle!