Barrel Aged Double Zombies
New Trail Brewing Company

Canned on 07/30/25, into a snifter.

Pours a deep mahogany with decent white foam. Aroma is spices and rich dark malts. Flavor is similar, a little bourbon but mostly dark malts and spices. Very little actual pumpkin here, but with the age, it tastes great. The alcohol is mellowed out, the spices aren't too sharp, and the malts feel exceptional. It tastes and feels like a more spiced version of the Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Pumpkin ale with thicker malt flavors and more richness, which is my favorite pumpkin ale. Feel is ok, a little thin for the ABV, but I like the slightly bitter finish and the low alcohol presence.

Overall, this delivers on the standard New Trail ideas. High ABV with huge but mellow flavors and exceptional drinkability. There's a lot of complexity here that I enjoy a lot, and it's a great BBA brown ale enhanced by the spices and extra flavors rather than being carried by them.

 

 

Pours a dark mahogany with a tan head that quickly dissipates.

Maple, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, and bourbon oak in the nose.

Taste follows nose with big barrel aged notes.

 

Purchased at Giant, Souderton, PA. $19.99/4pk, 16oz cans

Pours a reddish, golden yellow color. Semi-translucent. A very thin skim of a head that quickly fades.

Aromas of pumpkin spice and maple syrup.

A great pumpkin beer. Flavors of pumpkin purée, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup, vanilla, clove and pumpkin spices. The bourbon barrel aging adds a really a nice flavor without dominating the taste. Leans towards the sweeter side. Slightly tangy, bitter aftertaste. The ABV, even at 10%, is well hidden.

Smooth, creamier consistency with mild carbonation.

A top-notch pumpkin brew. I love the seasonal pumpkin beers and this ranks as a new favorite. Well done, New Trail…Cheers!

16oz can into a pint glass. Canned 8/22/24, so 3 months old.

Mixed look to this one. Murky brown with orange highlights body. Small but persistent cream head leaves an impressive latticework of lacing. Aroma is of pumpkin spices favoring nutmeg. On tasting, well, a lot going on. Fairly sweet, nutmeg over cinnamon, seems to lean more towards apple Christmas than pumpkin. The finish is also very nice. Bourbon makes a brief initial appearance, the pops up again late after the sweet smooth apple spice.

Overall, really enjoying this one, no idea why it seems less pumpkiny that expected.

Absolutely delicious Pumpkin Ale. Hits all the notes on the can. For a brewery that had so many good IPAs, they knocked this one out of the park. Only was able to get one can, but man, I wish I had more for the season.

 

 

A brown ale deserted a pint can and ended up in a clear glass liter mug. It's moderately cloudy. There's very little biege head. The main smells are cinnamon, nutmeg and maple. Not much, if any of the bourbon barrel tannins, nor alcohol, are noted by the nose. The taste is overwhelmingly of pumpkin pie spices. The nutmeg and probably allspice take command, with the maple falling outside of a major taste contributor. It's presence may be more of a smoothing character and it provides a little complexity to the overall sweetness. Not that this is overly sweet. The barrel tannins remain only a minor taste contributor, as they don't dominate the other taste inclusions. The body is too light to carry all the spices and alcohol. A better starch backbone is definitely needed to make this better than average. There's very little glass lacing, a typical trait for a 10% ABV brew. That presence of alcohol is nicely interwoven within all the spices and tannins, to the point it's barely noticeable. Overall, this is a decent spiced high ABV brew and nothing more. With barely enough starch in the wort, be it barley malt, oats, or even pumpkin itself, this falls short of being a good pumpkin ale. It's barely a pumpkin beer. As a spiced Imperial IPA, it's at least OK.

Canned on: ?????

A - Dark pumpkin garnet colored pour with some chill haze that will probably flesh itself out after it begins to warm. Lacing is consistent and dense.

S - Maple, vanilla, and spices dominate the nose to give it a pumpkin vibe.

T - Light Bourbon and oak is present throughout with spices, vanilla, and Maple syrup while ending on tyhe sweeter side with lingering spice on the palate.

M - Big body with light prickly carbonation.

O - The ABV is deceptively well hidden in this beer.