Paddle Trail Ale
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

1L howler from Sherbrooke Liquor store - hey, thanks, rep for Crux in Alberta (I can't be fucking bothered to look you up) for not indicating that this is actually brewed at Sierra Nevada, and not Crux. Douches.

This beer pours a hazy, pale golden amber colour, with four fingers of puffy, rocky, and chunky off-white head, which leaves a bit of randomly streaky and sudsy lace around the glass as it eventually subsides.

It smells of gritty and grainy pale malt, generic earthy domestic fruity notes, and some leafy, weedy, and well perfumed floral green hop bitters. The taste is grainy and bready pale malt, a lesser bland caramel sweetness, middling orange and white grapefruit fruity notes, a hint of damp plain Pez candies, and more earthy, weedy and piney verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite active in its swirling and twirling frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and actually rather smooth, with a wee airy creaminess seeping in once things warm up a tad out of the ol' basement frigo. It finishes off-dry, the mixed citrus and pome fruitiness complementing the lingering malt and fading forest detritus hops just fine.

Overall - this is definitely one of the better so-called 'session ales' that I have yet to come across, once its provenance was discerned. At any rate (or rant), a pleasantly drinkable, quaffable, or poundable offering, all depending on what kind of day you've had, or so I have been led to believe. Fuck.

 

 

Taste more like a Crux brew than a Sierra Nevada brew...I'm a big fan of Crux, so I rated higher for their part in this excellent beer.

 

 

 

Pours a finger of head on a clear straw body.
The aroma is metallic.
The taste is metallic bitterness, very pils-like.
The texture is softer.
Nothing amazing but fine enough.

 

 

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium golden amber with a nice two finger white head with great retention and lots of lacing. Aroma of light, slightly grainy malt, piney and citrus hops with a mild floral element; nice hop profile. Flavor follows with mild malt with lightly resinous citrus hops with piney notes, finishes with citrus rind hop bitterness that is a little stark due to the light malt body. Light to medium bodied with nice active carbonation. A good hop profile, but I'm left thinking it might be a bit more intense and interesting in a more robust beer. I'm not sure I get the session IPA style, most left me wishing I had less of a more robust IPA. This one is similar. Well made and well hopped as expected from both breweries, but left me wanting more.

Really Appreciate this 4.7 ABV ale from a couple of solid breweries. Good floral hop presence. Grapefruit tinge. Refreshing level of carbonation. Hope it appears again next summer; it'll be a 'go to'.

Lots of grapefruit throughout, both in smell and taste, with excellent mouthfeel and body usually found in normal IPA's. Finish lingers nicely. Good collaboration!

 

 

A little underwhelming but highly drinkable brew from two great breweries. For a session ipa it has flavor and not the thin wateryness we've come to expect from isa.

I am cutting this brew some slack and rating it as a session IPA which has no unique style as yet.
Clear gold with a huge long lasting white head. Plenty of clumps of lace.
Smell is dank hops with some fruitiness.
Taste is dank hops with light pine floral and grapefruit. Malts are very light.
Mouthfeel is light and somewhat watery. Carbonation is just right.
Overall a nice session IPA but nothing to race out and buy. Decent beer for a good cause.

Paddle Trail Session IPA, a collaboration between Crux Fermentation Project and Sierra Nevada to benefit the Bend Whitewater Park project. 4.7% abv.

A: A caramel-like medium amber, darker without light through it. Boisterous head settles to a thin ring of suds on top of the beer.

S: light floral perfume-like hop aroma and a little bread.

T: Very crisp with a tangy lime-zest hoppiness, with a little bit of sweet lighter malt that backs up the hops with slight breadiness. A little spicy on the aftertaste, like a hint of cumin or something. These “experimental” hops are very limey.

M: spicy on the lips, crisp, refreshing. it’s in danger of being a little watery but that’s probably perfect for a session ale.

O: A good beer, but not much malt presence at all. Refreshing and just well balanced enough to avoid the “hop water” accusation leveled at many session IPAs. The combination of floral aroma and tart citrus taste is pretty dang good. Crux fermentation hasn’t made a bad beer in my experience. 4.4/10.