Cruise
New Trail Brewing Company

 

Huge NT follower, but this one fell short for me. Not enough depth and just felt like a miss. In light of NTs multitude of quality offers, no loss in in skipping this one.

 

 

 

Overall a good sippable beer, but have had better from them. Taste was a liitle light and no hoppy aftertaste.

Pours a hazy pale yellow/green with a slight white head.

Citrus, pine, floral, and pine nut.

Taste follows the nose a nice hop punch followed by a pine nut malt.

A thanks tom the creator of the canquest, woodychandler, for this beer. Poured from a 16 oz. can. Has a cloudy golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of mild fruits. Taste is juicy, citrus, mild bitterness. Feels medium/full bodied in the mouth and overall I have had better IPA's from this brewery.

 

Pours a hazy, opaque, color almost like pineapple juice. Thin rim of head retention that leaves lacing. Smell is somewhat muted, but there are citrus and floral notes. Taste is prominent citrus with a bitterness that lingers a bit. Good carbonation. Mouthfeel is on the thinner side for the style. Overall, pretty easy drinking; sessionable. Not my favorite example of the style, but not bad either.

 

 

 

 

 

What have we here? It couldn't be a new label release from New Trail. They only happen every week, or so. A look at a pint of Cruise poured into a clear Imperial pint glass gives rise to some optimism. It doesn't have that foamy white starchiness of a massively wheat influenced brew. Wheat is wonderful in bread, pasta, pastries and pancakes. In big doses, it almost never improves a beer. If a brew is to be starchly softened, oats are the ideal. This one looks more oaty than wheaty. So, we now have a dense dirty blond colored brew, without much head, nor lacing, awaiting a taste. Through the haze, a hop aroma hits the nose before the first taste. Hops are there,in the taste, but not pungent. The body and malt contributions to the taste could be better, but they are also there. Probably unbalanced on the side of the oats, there is just enough hoppiness for happiness. Not a bad recipe from New Trail; but, like the proverbial weather in Chicago, wait a minute and it will change with another label.