Summer Chill Factor
New Trail Brewing Company

 

Decent Cold IPA from NT here. Hits all the hoppy pilsner-esque notes correctly with hops trending towards tropical which I would not have chosen for this style, but here we are. Would like to see them try this again sticking to the Cascade, Chinook, Amarillo, Summit, and Nugget side of things. That said, I'd buy this again

16oz can into a pint glass. Appears to have been canned 6/3/24, so a month old.

Very clear golden yellow body with a small bright white head. Scattered lacing. Aroma is mildly of fruity hops. On tasting, taste is clean, crisp, balanced, more non citrus than citrus. Mouth above medium, there is a light bitter finish in the back of the mouth. Overall, nice drink. Other than the low carbonation, seems more lager-like than ipa.

It pours more like a Lager than the usual hazy you get from these folks. Its head is stark white and loosely knit. The clear glass liter mug shows the contents of a pint can as something brightly amber with a golden tint. Far from hazy, distinct fingers can be seen on the other side of the glass. But, it has more of an IPA aroma, with a close to tangerine note. The Pilsner and Munich malts move the overall smell toward Lager, but the pale ale hops overpower. The taste falls way short of a good IPA. There's practically no barley malt there, not even close and that hurts its overall. That also means the body runs thinly for an IPA. Maybe that could work for some on a hot summer day, but most IPA lovers will be wanting more: Not just more body, but more taste to it. There's only a one dimensional hop presence here, as (not so) well. This has a hop bite barely more noticeable than what can be found in a good Pilsner. To be fair, or maybe just kind, the glass lacing is OK and the 7% ABV is nicely involved with the taste. This might have been an attempt at a Pilsner-IPA hybrid, since it surely isn't a true IPA. Maybe those two styles just aren't meant to join together in a single brew.

 

 

Poured into a narrow pint glass: color is straw gold, transparent, head is brigther white and frothy with a 1 finger presentation.

Smell is light sweet malt, pilsner like, hint of grape nuts, light candied fruit/hops, citric and stone fruit hop aromas.

Taste is more sweeter malt, similar in flavor to the replenish base, light candied sweetness, hint of nectarean, citrus and mixed stone fruit.

Mouthfeel is moderate carbonation, moderate sweetness, moderate bitterness.

Overall a nice clean IPA from NT - pretty clean malt, a little sweet/candied, moderately bitter.