Long Trail Brewmaster Series Double IPA

Brewed by Long Trail Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Bridgewater Corners, Vermont USA

22oz Bottle: Crystal clear copper pour w/ a soapy off-white head that falls away quickly. Aroma is piney hops w/ some citrus undertones. Flavor mimics the aroma w/ a nice bitter bite. There is a little bit of toasty/bready malt mid-palate, but if you blink you’ll miss it. Finishes w/ piney bitterness.

Draught at New Beers Distributors, New York
Cloudy blond color. Good hoppy aroma, resiny. The hop flavor instead is grassy, earthy; the hop covers some dry malt flavor. Interesting.

On tap at Rattle’n’Hum. An unusual imperial IPA. Sour and herby, with some floral tones. Light-bodied for the style, and not much caramel flavor. It is hard to believe the ABV was so high. This almost seemed like a saison-IPA hybrid. It makes me wonder if I was poured the right beer - whatever it was, I liked it a lot.

Lightly hazed golden color with a small creamy looking, off-white head. Pine and lemon zest float above a light cream and pale malt base. Seems to have a hint of sourness underneath that I’m not coming to grips with. Fairly soft in feel. Light sweetness in the front. Some citric and pine bitterness balances in the middle. More pine in the finish and linger. Alcohol is very well hidden, albeit my stomach does seem to be slightly warmer. For some reason, I catch a tastes of under-attenuation, or perhaps grain. Seems quite traditional in flavor profile, perhaps pushed a bit too far. Thanks CharlesDarwin.

THOUGHTS: Good, but weak for the style and I’m not talking about the ABV. Incredible for the price. Hid alcohol well. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a light to medium gold with an average, off-white head that mostly diminished and left good lacing. The aroma was light to moderate caramel malt; moderate to heavy resin, grapefruit and orange hops; and light yeast. The initial flavor was light to moderately sweet, a little acidic, slightly sour and lightly bitter; while the finish was sweet, rather bitter and acidic with a long duration. There was caramel malt, grapefruit hops, a little orange hops, a little yeast, resin, and pine. Nice balance. The medium body was a bit syrupy and then fairly dry with lightly fizzy carbonation and a metallic, lightly astringent and lightly alcoholic finish.

Tasted 9/17/09. 22oz bomber. Hazy with a golden hue. Layer of off-white head. Moderate grapefruit nose. Toasty cereal grains with a grassy and mildly citrus note. Medium to full bodied with a good, crisp palate. Dry sticky and solidly produced. Tangy flavors. Citrus and grapefruit hops. Decent effervescence. Very nice.

Bottle from Canals. Again another winner from this collection. Hazy goldne/orange pour with enticing aromas of hop and grapefruit. Garssy hop flavor with a mild honey finish. Really good work !

22oz Bottle, purchased at Town Line Liquors - East Greenwich, RI. Fresh, zesty citrus aroma. Classic resins, pine, lemons and mixed floral spiciness. Kind of a solid cross-section of most high-alpha west coast hops. Very nice. Pours a mid-golden, with a nice white head. Flavor starts at the aroma and then gets a little catty and funky. Maybe a little of the onion-like Summit hops? Body wanes a little thin and the yeast maybe a touch sickly. I feel like this is falling apart a bit on the flavor. Dustiness picks up on the backend. It’s alright, but I think the yeast is too heavy for the style, the hop character gets sloppy and the body needs some polishing. Aroma was great. It’s too sickly sweet in the end.