Wild Trail
Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

This one pours a light amber-ish color - not a promising color for the style. There's a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like caramel malt and astringent hops.

This probably wouldn't have even been impressive in 1987. It's severely malty for the style, with dry and astringent bitterness the only hop character.

This is light bodied, with an unpleasant astringent finish.

There's not much to recommend with this one, unfortunately.

12oz can into a tall glass. NO freshness dating.

Looks very good in the glass. Almost clear amber body. Nice white head shrinks to a ring and covering leaving scattered spidery lacing.

Quite malty on the nose.

On tasting, nicely balanced. Strong sweet malt base, lightly hopped edging to the piney side. Clean beer, solid pale ale.

Mouth medium, finish sweet and pine mix.

Overall, very drinkable and sessionable pale ale. Nice beer from Greenbrier.

 

Appearance: Pours a clear amber color with a one finger head; decent retention and some splashes of lace

Smell: Stone fruit aromas with bread, a hint of caramel and tangerine

Taste: Bread and caramel malt flavors forward with some stone fruit flavors developing; modest tangerine flavors emerge, after the swallow and blend into the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation

Overall: A very nice APA that leans to toward the other side of the pond

Thanks, Treyliff, for the opportunity

 

Look: It pours amber with an off white head. Head retention is excellent.

Smell: It has aromas of pine and stone fruit. It does have hints of tangerine.

Taste: The flavors have pine and floral in the forefront. In support is some bread with tangerine. There is a very low stone fruit element.

It has a medium body.

Overall, an easy drinking beer with pleasant hop flavors and noticeable malt.

 

This was the first beer that I ever had from Greenbrier and more importantly, the first beer from West Virginia that I've reviewed on here. Picked up on the way home from one of my runs out west, I had to grab this because one of my best friends is nicknamed Sasquatch and I was hoping that this would be a bit wild for an American Pale Ale.

That was the case as I poured this out and watched the amber-hued liquid fill up my pint glass. A fair amount of dark sediment was floating in it but I had no idea how old this can was as it wasn't dated nor was there anything written on the bottom of it. Lemon, herbs, and lots of urine came through in the nose as the taste was just as turbid with some deep citrus in the mix as well. A bit of citrus juice livened things up as the malt was crackery and present enough to take some of the harsher edges off of this beer.

Not a lot of booze in this one but any more would have been a detraction. The back was very herbal bordering on tea but that just added to the untamed aspects of this beer. A bit too spicy and zesty for me to rate any higher, this would be a great brew to pack in and pack out during a hunt for the mythical Sasquatch. A balanced body and just enough carbonation kept this from being too undomesticated as it as one of the funkier American Pale Ales that I've had. Perfectly suited for the Mountaineer State!

 

 

 

On tap:
A mostly clear amber pour, with a nice head and some initial lacing. The head fades to a medium thin ring that grows with agitation easily.

A clean, malty-leaning nose: light brown toast with citrus marmalade and lightly orange-pithy notes.

Taste is definitely in the classic, balanced APA style. A mildly toast cereal malt flavor is countered by a fairly neutralizing bitterness that brings a citrus side. A tad earthy when combined, there’s light hints of pine in the back.

A crisp, medium-bodied brew for under 6%. The flavors are pretty classic and I am glad to have this opportunity to try it.

 

 

 

 

Poured from a 12 oz. can. Has a deep golden color with a 1 inch head. Smell is mild, citrus, light malts. Taste is cracker malts, citrus, light pine, well balanced. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is an easy drinking and pretty good beer.

 

 

Almost heaven; West Virginia! Excellent brew from West Virginia. Much better than expected. Excellent scent when opened. Poured out deliciously. A cloudy golden amber. Tasteful. In fact, I drank 3 of them - before, during and after dinner with some BBQ. The feeling was quite good, not overbearing but a very good feeling. Mountain mama, take me home....

 

Kind of a "green" taste...does that make any sense? Get a 16oz.

No date on can. Poured into IPA glass. It pours a cloudy honey color with a foamy, milk-white head and lacing. Not much of a nose: a little light citrus and vague floral hops. The taste is solid: crisp, lite, slightly bitter with a nice dose of lemon peel, pine, and some cracker malt. It's pleasantly carbonated and the 5.7% ABV seems just right. Overall, from a flavor perspective this is far from the leaders of the style, it would be fine for drinking at a warm weather, outdoor event. It would pair well with burgers or dogs or between innings of a softball game.

Poured a cloudy orange body with one-finger head and lace ring down the glass. Light, airy citric hop aroma with minimal malt sweetness. Dry, bitter hopped beer with some caramel malt sweetness but ends up being off-balanced as it's too bitter and dry which is slightly off-putting.

 

12 ounce can, stamp on bottom says 09/20/16 so I'm hoping that's the canned on date. Served in a pint glass, the beer pours a mostly clear golden/orange color with about an inch white head. Head retention and lacing are both decent enough. The brew smells mostly like citrusy (melon, tropical fruit) and pine hops, along with some bready malt. Taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also some floral hops, earthiness and a bit of stone fruit noticeable. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's smooth and goes down easy. I thought it was an enjoyable pale ale, glad I tried this one! $2.30 a single can.

Clear, filtered pour. Medium fizz, nice head.

Straightforward American Pale Ale. Bright, lightly fruity hop aroma with some decent bread and yeast balance.

Tastes like it smells: a pretty regular hop profile, contemporary tasting, but nicely balanced by a chewy yeast back end and dry, lingering hop finish.

Had on draft at the Irish pub with corned beef sandwich & Irish stew that had a rosemary seasoning. Flavorful combo. Hops and bitterness typical of an apa but I noted some fruitiness in the profile which was a nice complement to the meal. ABV was ok for a lunch beverage.

 

Some background on this one. I recently attended, for the first time, a BCCA event, specifically, the annual Spring Thaw CANvention on Mechanicsburg, PA. I expected to be looking at antique CANs & other breweriana, but I was pleasantly surprised to find things up my alley, like cloth patches. I was flabbergasted, though, at the preponderance of current craft CANs, both empty & full. Some were for trade, some for sale, others just to share! It was like being a kid in a CANdy store! This one was through Jon Benedict of South Hills Brewing Supply in Pittsburgh. The CANQuest (tm) abides.

From the CAN: "Search for Elusive Sasquatch Continues"; "[Hops:] Centennial, Simcoe, Amarillo, Citra [; Malts:] Maris Otter, Ameri[CAN] 2-Row, British Crystal Malt"; "Pack it in, pack it out"; "Sasquatch sightings continue throughout the hills and hollows of West Virginia. His adventurous spirit lives on throughout this robust mango, floral and slightly piney flavored Pale Ale. Enjoy this flavorful brew at home or after an adventure searching for Sasquatch on one of your favorite wild trails."

The Crack! unleashed some foaming through the vent, leaving me unsure as to how to proceed. Just as I began an inverted Glug, I simultaneously burst out in a sneezing fit just as the foam came rushing up in the glass. I aborted the Glug & set the CAN down, but I still managed to spill a little & make a slight mess. It settled into two fingers of rocky, tawny head that slowly melted away in the heat & humidity of this summer day. Color was Amber to Deep Amber/Light Copper (SRM = > 9, < 13) with NE-quality clarity. Nose was clearly the sum of its parts. I got the cattiness of Simcoe and the earthiness of Maris Otter and I got my mouth to watering. Mmmm. Mouthfeel was medium. Man, the Citra & Centennial hops lent a pine & grapefruit bitterness to the flavor while the malts kept everything in check with an earthy, yet unobtrusive, sweetness. I CAN really get behind something like this! To me, it straddles that fine line between APA & AIPA. Finish was semi-dry, with the hops not getting out of CANtrol and the malts knowing how to stand in the background. This is quite a good beer on a hot day & if you CAN find some for your cooler, I would recommend it.

12oz can. Poured out a clear, golden orange color with a very small, off-white head of foam. It smelled of citrus and roasted malt. Fairly malty APA with a citrusy bite.

 

5/17/16 canned date. Poured into some Sam Adams glass.

Copper liquid with a golden hue towards the base. Frothy white head, retains well. Steady carbonation visible. 5

Smell is lemony with some orange juice. A touch herbal. Berry-like. Some light biscuity malt. 4

Flavor, like the nose, shows an herbal quality. Berry, pine and resin and a light, sweet floral quality. The malt here is biscuity, slightly sweet and complements the hops well. 4

Bitterness shows up front but is mellow and recedes to a sweeter element. The body is medium and very smooth. 4.25

Hadn't heard a lot of positive about West Virginia beers but this is plenty good. I'm pleased.