Trail Maker
Howard Brewing Company

12 oz can from Asheville, NC.
Pours with a cloudy amber body and a sizable off-white head that has excellent retention.
Sweet, fruity and hoppy aroma with a subtle hint of rotting soft fruit.
Better flavor. Mildly bitter.
Near medium boy with rather high, biting carbonation. Not smooth.

 

 

From the can - bougfht a 6 pack at Target in Asheville NCA drinkable heavily hopped ale. Very heavily hopped - overbearing citrus pine chorus. Nothing that makes this stand out from the crowded field of craft brewed IPAs. Another me too product

 

 

 

 

The packaging is better than the product, nothing mind blowing but still, it's a solid American pale ale that I would buy again.

 

Picked up this beer from Green Life in Asheville. Love the can, the branding, good info on the label except for canning date.

Pours beautifully with a nice creamy head. Pretty tangerine color, what an APA at 6.5% should look like.
The nose on this beer is phenomenal. Citrus, bit of pine, nice tropical sweet notes. Mouth watering smelling beer. Smells real fresh.
The taste follows the nose. Great combo of malt sweetness and hop bitterness. Mostly citrus in the taste. Really impressed.
Mouthfeel is creamy, but crisp and light. Really nice and what I like to see in this style.
The hoppy American Pale Ale is my favorite style when the weather starts to warm and I'm looking at getting outdoors. This one really blew me away as I had no high expectations, but it is truly up there. Not a Zombie Dust or Pseudo Sue, but this is right there with Fat Heads Trail Head and Half Acre Daisy Cutter in my opinion. Nice hop forward APA in a can. It's got everything going on.

 

 

 

 

A hop-forward pale ale with a decent smell and great taste/feel.

12oz Can

A shout out to Wil for letting me grab an armful of beer on my way out the other day. Thanks again, dude! Trail Maker is saturated apricot orange with golden highlights running the length of the glass. The dusty white foam grows dense, and chunky with an easy pour to a sturdy finger in height. That head is going nowhere fast, it's incredibly frothy and leaves chunky lace in its wake. This is a great looking pale ale.

The yeast used brings a lot of juicy fruitiness along for the ride; bright pear and soft green apple mostly. The hop profile lays down easy going woodsy notes, pine and earth, along with a good helping of refined, well integrated orchard fruits and citrus. Sweet orange peel, grapefruit marmalade, even Meyer lemon mingle with apricot and peach stone fruitiness. The malt base is simple, pale, and bready with a touch of sweetness in the form of sugar cookie. Nicely done.

Some of that green apple in the nose is from acetaldehyde and it's more noticeable in the flavor but by no means troublesome. The yeast profile is back with the orchard fruits. Stone fruit pop up mid palate with the earthy hoppiness mentioned above. It's all very well integrated and about as smooth as you could imagine. Again, the malt is simple with a bready base and a touch of sugar cookie again.

The weight of the body lies directly in the middle of the spectrum. It's smooth, lush, and enjoyably velvety. The bitterness is soft and hits the tip of the tongue more than the back of the throat while leaving behind mild dryness in its path. A pale ale of this nature is incredibly easy to put away by the 6-pack. Unfortunately, I only have one can...

Trail Maker is a damn good beer from the fine folks at Howard. It won't blow you away by any means but I would certainly buy it to hit the trail, beach, or bike. It's unique, easy drinking, and good. Thanks for the can Wil!