Lightning Bug
New Trail Brewing Company
- From:
- New Trail Brewing Company
- Pennsylvania, United States
- Style:
- Hazy IPA
Ranked #1,552 - ABV:
- 6.5%
- Score:
- 88
Ranked #19,208 - Avg:
- 3.94 | pDev: 7.11%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 12
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Aug 21, 2025
- Added:
- May 28, 2020
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 3
SCORE
88
Very Good
88
Very Good
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by TheBigBoy from Pennsylvania
3/5 rDev -23.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
3/5 rDev -23.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Probably the most basic NT beer encountered, really not getting much. I guess the lightning is a pun on lite. Too many other good NTs to spend much time with this one
Jul 08, 2025
Reviewed by running3dogs from Maryland
3.9/5 rDev -1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.9/5 rDev -1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Standard haze. Juicy aroma, but not emphatic. Nice blend of citrus and pineapple flavors that begin strong and end strong. Very smooth pleasing finish.
Jun 10, 2025
Reviewed by MikeWard from Pennsylvania
3.79/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.79/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
16oz can into a tall glass. NO freshness dating.
Looks decent in the glass. Hazy dark pineapple juice colored body. Small white head shrinks to a ring and faint covering, rings of lacing early on.
Dull tropical fruit aroma.
On tasting, mixed tropical fruit, seems more non citrus.
Mouth above medium, quite smooth with the oat, a featherlight bitterness. Finish smooth, slightly warm, with a hint of bitterness on the tip of the tongue.
Overall, has its highlights, but not a lot to separate itself from hundreds of others in the atyle.
May 30, 2022Looks decent in the glass. Hazy dark pineapple juice colored body. Small white head shrinks to a ring and faint covering, rings of lacing early on.
Dull tropical fruit aroma.
On tasting, mixed tropical fruit, seems more non citrus.
Mouth above medium, quite smooth with the oat, a featherlight bitterness. Finish smooth, slightly warm, with a hint of bitterness on the tip of the tongue.
Overall, has its highlights, but not a lot to separate itself from hundreds of others in the atyle.
Reviewed by tdm168 from Pennsylvania
4.01/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
4.01/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Bright, hazy, opaque golden orange. Nice, thick, white cap of white head. Good retention. Smells of faint tropical fruit and some pine. The flavor actually shows some alcohol up front detracting from the OJ, grapefruit, and apricot notes. Next to no bitterness. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Jul 05, 2021
Reviewed by dbl_delta from Pennsylvania
3.85/5 rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
3.85/5 rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Undated (WTF) can into pint glass. Pours a very hazy medium gold, with a nice off-white head. Good lacing. Initial impression is tart pineapple with a bit of pine resin and bready malts. Mouthfeel is fairly harsh for an alleged NEIPA - that and the tartness edge it toward the sour end of the spectrum. Finish is more pineapple with a hint of dank pine.
All that having been said, this is a pretty enjoyable beer. New Trail turns out some astounding stuff - a lot of which tastes nearly the same. This is a bit off their beaten path, but it's good!
Jun 29, 2021All that having been said, this is a pretty enjoyable beer. New Trail turns out some astounding stuff - a lot of which tastes nearly the same. This is a bit off their beaten path, but it's good!
Reviewed by DIM from Pennsylvania
3.79/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75
3.79/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75
I don't buy New Trail much because they don't have any freshness information on their cans. I know this is a relatively fresh season release, so I took a shot.
This tastes of pineapple, but it isn't very sweet so it doesn't come across as ripe. Along with the citrus rind notes, this comes across as a bit tart. The body is a bit thin and watery. Worth trying, I wish they dated their offerings. I'd buy more since I like the quality and the price point.
Jun 13, 2021This tastes of pineapple, but it isn't very sweet so it doesn't come across as ripe. Along with the citrus rind notes, this comes across as a bit tart. The body is a bit thin and watery. Worth trying, I wish they dated their offerings. I'd buy more since I like the quality and the price point.
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania
4.02/5 rDev +2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
4.02/5 rDev +2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
I was recently staring into the abysss, I mean, watching a little TV, when I happened to realize that I had a subsCANtial amount of New Trail CANs in abeyance & decided to revisit them for yet CANother brewery horizontal. This shall be the fifth of this newest set. It's a CANQuest (tm) thing, if you don't understand.
From the CAN: "Lightning Bug Hazy IPA"; "India Pale Ale"; Keep Cold[,] Drink Fresh".
I did not see any reason to be gentle following the Crack! of the vent, so I went with a heavy-handed aggro Glug into the awaiting glass. It foamed beautifully to form two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with very good retention. Color was a deeply-hazy/lightly-cloudy Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7). Nose had an unusual tropical bent in that it smelled not only of pineapple, but also of coconut! A beery Piña Colada?!? Please let this play out in its taste! Mouthfeel was medium, but not as soft as many that I have had in the style. The taste was odd - more like pineapple and vanilla than coconut, but still very pleasant. I liked that the pineapple taste had a tanginess to it, rather than being totally sweet. Finish, as a result, was somewhere between semi-sweet & semi-dry. I CANtinue to marvel at what these guys are putting out. YMMV.
Aug 28, 2020From the CAN: "Lightning Bug Hazy IPA"; "India Pale Ale"; Keep Cold[,] Drink Fresh".
I did not see any reason to be gentle following the Crack! of the vent, so I went with a heavy-handed aggro Glug into the awaiting glass. It foamed beautifully to form two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with very good retention. Color was a deeply-hazy/lightly-cloudy Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7). Nose had an unusual tropical bent in that it smelled not only of pineapple, but also of coconut! A beery Piña Colada?!? Please let this play out in its taste! Mouthfeel was medium, but not as soft as many that I have had in the style. The taste was odd - more like pineapple and vanilla than coconut, but still very pleasant. I liked that the pineapple taste had a tanginess to it, rather than being totally sweet. Finish, as a result, was somewhere between semi-sweet & semi-dry. I CANtinue to marvel at what these guys are putting out. YMMV.
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