Stargazer
New Trail Brewing Company

 

 

 

Standard haze, but good head retention and excellent lace. Big tropical, citrusy aroma, leads with pineapple. Becomes more citrusy on the palate, with some peach as well. Smooth palate, pretty nice flavors, but lacks the vibrancy of the better hazies. I think New Trail does their best work with DIPAs.

Pours a pale, hazy orange with an off white head.

Delicate floral hops and tropical fruit with earthy pine undertones.

Bitter pine and grapefruit with floral notes and a slight malt bread backbone.

Rarely can go wrong with a NT, this one not in NT HOF, but still pretty darn good. Nice nose to start with pleasant fruity haziness on the finish. Has a bit of acidity which is negative point for me.

The pour produced plenty of foam, as the contents of a pint can were emptied into a clear Imperial pint glass. In fact, the pour had to be greatly slowed to fit it all in one try. There are greater offenders, but this didn't even provide much glass lacing. The foam is off-white, carrying little of the color of the beer. Not like there is much there to carry over. It's dirty blond, or blond-amber, opaque and on the bright side. It smells like many other modern American IPAs, starchy without much or any barley. At least there's a little sharpness to the hop presence here. In the taste of this one, the lack of barley malt shows. The hops just are biting enough to overtake the wheat and oats. A rather perfume-llke backbone distracts from the decent hopping. With oats in the mix, of course the body is supple and smooth. But, other than keeping the ABV in good balance, there's little to commend about the taste. After getting past the odd, at least for a proper IPA, starch backing taste, this comes across as rather bland and uninteresting. Best about the drinking experience, after its body, is a slight drying out of the hops during the finish. No misunderstandings, this isn't bad, as it's rather easy drinking. But, it's got almost no character; nothing to remember nor recommend

 

 

 

 

Poured into a wide mouth, grip shaped goblet: color is straw gold, murky haziness, head presents 1 finger thick, head then dissipates to thin top and ring on glass sides.

Smell is mixed tropicals, citrus, typical NT offering, light maltiness with bread and wheat notes.

Taste is sweet, light candied notes, tropical fruit with pineapple forward, some citrus, some berry, light maltiness and notes of bread/biscuit, a little thicker/sweeter than broken heels.

Mouthfeel is low carbonation, moderate/strong sweetness, low bitterness, lingering sweet-bitterness.

Overall a sweeter, slightly cloying broken heels.

 

 

 

One fingers worth of crisp bone white colored froth... Respectable retention... Color is a hazed lemony yellow... Light pineapple and hay on the nose... Perhaps a bit of orange zest as well... Palate is largely as expected, but notes of stone fruit add a lot of great depth and complexity... On the fuller side of medium bodied and ultra lush with just the slightest bit of carbonation... Goes down smoothly sip after sip... Very nice textbook beer from New Trail that is sulquarely in their wheelhouse... Good stuff...

Undated can into pint glass. Pours a murky medium gold with a brief off-white head. Minimal lacing. Initial impression is pineapple, mango, and tropical fruits. Mouthfeel is smooth and medium thick. Finish fades to citrus. Overall, an OK but not notable NEIPA.