Trail Builder
Barrel Mountain Brewing

*archived rating*

12oz can picked up from Ben's Bottle Shop in Vancouver, WA; first experience with Barrel Mountain
Poured into a Level Belgian-style tulip

O- big toasted bready and caramel malts pair with stone fruit and resinous hops; med resin/earthy bitterness in the finish; smooth and cohesive; med-full bodied and satisfying; quite the nice DIPA and a good first impression of the brewery

Consumption date: 08.05.20
Can date: 06.15.20

It says that it has IBU of 100 but was very smooth. Some beers that get above 8 loose their way but this one did not have any off taste. Very drinkable. Not a strong hoppy, which I like but surprisingly balanced.

I find this beer to be a really wonderful IIPA. It has a nice tropical aroma with a resinous citrus taste with a touch of sweetness. It pours a darker orange with a medium head. No real hop bite even at 100 IBU's. This could be really dangerous as it goes down like a 6% ABV beer. 1 of my new favorite IIPA's. 100 IBUs Rated 9-9-2022

Clear yellow brew with nice head in the tall Timmermans goblet. Sudsy and sharp on the tongue. Rather sweet and funky-fruity. Dark plums, corn, and a grainy finsh. Notes of lime peel, red wine, and dark grapes. Quite strongly flavored with a bitter aftertaste. From the 12 oz can dated 01/03/22.

Poured from a growler into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium to dark coppery amber with a fine, one finger off-white head that continues building slightly after the pour, looks nice. Aroma of mildly caramel malt, citrus and dank hops, orange citrus with slight lemon. Flavor follows with pale malt with slight caramel, citrus and dank hops, orange, grapefruit and lemon juice and rind; finishes with a lightly resinous citrus rind bitterness and lingering citrus and herbal flavors. A slight bit astringent on the finish, but the hop flavors carry through. Medium bodied with a light creaminess. A nicely made imperial IPA with good citrus and dank hops notes in both the aroma and flavor. Nice body with with good mouth feel. Lots of alpha oils here, but good flavors to support their onslaught. ABV dangerously well covered. The combination of thick lacing, solid body and flavor made this better than the sum of the individual parts; well done. I got tasters of this and the Starway Stout, both of which were good, but I ultimately had to go with the big IPA because I knew I would need it after the long drive home. Either due to skill of the gent who filled my growler or inherent qualities of the IPA, this really looked fine in the glass after pouring, which is not always true of growler pours. I'll be back to this brewery in the future, although it's off the beaten path.