Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5
I do not know why I keep doing this to myself All these wheat infused with syrup beers taste like soda beer. This one wasn’t any better. I know they could do a better job (i.e. Blue Point Blueberry). By the way how exactly is this modeled after lambics. By that logic B ot the E is also modeled after lambics. Damn you Vermont, I have had enough of you and your sucky-ass fruit flavored beers, damn you hippies.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Pours bright amber into a shaker. Medium head quickly recedes leaving slight lacing. Roasted caramel notes. Medium bodied. Caramel with a slight hop finish.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Hefeweizen from Long Trail Brewing Company 19 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
2006 bottle on 5/21/06.
Fairly rapidly receding white head atop an unfiltered light golden-straw body. Light lacing at the the top, but it is not thorough.
Heavily estery nose shows pure, fresh, clean banana and tons of playful bubble gum. Mild citrus and some dashes of light peppery-dry notes. Creamed wheat takes over and the bubble gum just basks in the dryness as the moderate honey graininess stays strong throughout. Fairly high strength.
A bit more watery than the nose suggests, unfortunately, but nothing unclean. The strong wheat is there, smoothing things out, but unfortunately, the water is fairly prevalent, which really leads to the downfall of this otherwise well-malted and interestingly estery example. Plenty of supple pils malt and sweet wheat lead to a malty example, but the esters and light phenols dry it out and balance it on the end. Banana lingers on lightly with the creamed wheat. No alcohol noted.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Pours a light hazy amber into a shaker. Microbubble head with good staying power, leaves lacing as it slowly recedes. Pine and citrus notes. Upfront sweet malt with a quick turn to puckering sour bitterness. Not really grapefruit, but a lasting bitter metallic finish.
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 3.5
Bottled on 3/13/06 and drunk on 4/23/06
Unripe apricot skin colored body is crystal clear, finely filtered and full of large, vigorous bubbles creating a foamy white head that is retained probably due to a mix of wheat being used and through so much carbonation, but mostly because of the carbonation, I would guess. It eventually fades to ring, leaving some spots of lace.
Aroma is dull, grainy-mineral-like, with metal (steel, copper, brass), some iron, chalk and a touch of blackberry essence. No substantial malt, not even very wheat-like. Just dull, bland and metallic, with some light corn-like notes.
The flavor is an insipidly sweet, unwavering blackberry sweetness, with some drying on the end, but with such heavily filtered a texture as to remove any substance or anything to comfort the palate. Grainy, dry malts taste of barley, toast, hay and no hops or yeast are noticeable. Blackberry flavor is moderately authentic, but just sticks out like a sore thumb, building up on the palate, with nothing else in the flavor to balance. Obnoxiously high, forced carbonation harries the palate and the beer ends watery and dull. Can’t drink more than a 3 or 4 sips.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Hibernator from Long Trail Brewing Company 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
2005 bottle consumed on 1/4/2006. Pours a clear honey-caramel with light strawberry rhubarb tinges and a fair amount of yellow-tinged white head that recedes slowly to a ring, leaving little clumps of lace. Aroma smells of honey fermentation biprodcuts (light sharpness, hints of dry fruits and dry biscuit-like notes). Or maybe I’m just making it all up and it’s just diacetyl. . . .Soft grassy-herbal hops and wildflowers. Vanilla and apple blossoms and just a touch of dry caramel in the back. The flavor is neither rich nor malty, actually quite attenuated, soft again, with more herbs and flower petals. Dry biscuits and brown bread, with more light honey, though just a touch. Dry citrus peels on the finish, with a little touch of gentle sugariness. Lively carbonation, watery texture (though not terribly so). No alcohol or yeast apparency.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Unfiltered IPA from Long Trail Brewing Company 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Bottle from Julios consumed on 12/10/2005. Nose is foresty, soft, fuzzy hops supported by light sourdough-like malts. Interesting that canary dog feels he can tell the difference between pelletized hops. Smells fine to me, it’s certainly not any knock your sox off west coast ipa. Whatever. I also didnt get any oxidized/stale flavors. And furthermore, what’s so remarkable about Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA?? A drinkable beer? sure, but it’s quite bitter, acidic and heavily filtered now, leading to a thinned out and very lacking mouthfeel. I guess it’s remarkable in that regard, as in, I might remark "Boy, this beer sure sucks now compared to how good it was 3 years ago." I also think their marketing is talking in that guy’s review. Sure it says on the bottle that they boil the hops for 60 minutes, and it’s nothing but the freshest ingredients blah blah blah, so it’s easy to turn around and talk shit about Long Trail and call their hops stale and pelletized. There certainly is more to the IPA style than just how strong and bitter your hops are. It seems like a cop-out to just say, "DFH 60 minute is a more bitter, hoppier IPA, therefore it’s better". I guess that works for some people though, and maybe, in the end, the IPA is just about how hoppy and bitter you can make it. I think filtration is a huge aspect in any beer, though, IPA or otherwise (maybe not kristalweizen) so that should play a role and 60 minute isnt bottle conditioned. I’ll take unfiltered over whole leaf hops anyday. Well, anyways, I forgot where I’m going with this.
jcwattsrugger (14787) reviewed Ale from Long Trail Brewing Company 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5
on tap-pours a white head, color is clear gold. Aroma is grain. Taste is grain, light carbonation, water.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6
Dark cinnamon brown color with a fleeting white head. Light malt aroma. A bit or malt sweetness but very thin and washed out.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Harvest Ale from Long Trail Brewing Company 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5
Bottled on 8/18/2005 consumed 9/6/2005. A true amber ale in color. A tinge of very light strawberry-auburn on the edges. Light beige-cream-colored head is one-finger high and there are a few spots of lacing. Lots of bubbles, force carbonated no doubt and very clear. Aroma of berry skins, fruit and nuts. Like a chewy granola bar. Fruity, papery and hard flavored crystal malts. Fruitiness from the yeast, I suppose, and some decent 2-row flavor, but just that good ole’ filtered mouthfeel. Unsubstantial and very quickly finishing. Dry, no real sweet malt and in the at respect, at least it’s not overly sweet. But craft beers shouldnt be filtered and force carbonated. We are trying to move away from BMC, not towards. You heard it from me first ;)