SMaSH Project (Made With Single Malt Munich And Single Hop Equinox)
Long Trail Brewing Co.

 

 

Had this beer WAY after its original purchase. I didn't really like it at first, however upon tasting it again I don't see why it was so offensive to me originally. Pours a reddish amber color with a 2 finger silky head. I get more malt on the aroma than the equinox hops. The malt is overpowering it. Up front the taste is sweet and a little floral - likely the hops at play. However the malt flavor comes through pretty quickly and stomps all over the hops. I assume it is the Munich malt that is imparting the flavor. I don't really care for how it mixes with the hops but it is not really offensive either. The beer is sticky on the lips, a little heavy tasting.

 

L: Hazy reddish amber with a sticky beige head. Solid retention, and good amount of lacing.

S: Sweet malt. Caramel, toasted brown bread, and honey. A bit of earth with chocolaty undertones. A bit of sticky dankness.

T: Caramel, honey, toasted bread. Perhaps old, I think. There's a little bit of earth, dankness, and faint orange marmalade, but that's all.

F: Medium-full, smooth. Almost creamy. Finishes slightly watery, though.

O: I think this is old, but I do not know how old. This is like, all malt and no hops.

 

 

The CANQuest (tm) has a lot on its plate (or in its glass) today! I have been curious to try this one since picking it up at Monde Market in PHL & today is the day. I like the graphics on the CAN as well as the project CANcept. This should be interesting.

From the CAN: "Brewed with a single malt and a single hop to showcase the characteristics of each ingredient."; "Single Malt [-] Munich [:] Munich malt reveals a deep amber hue and distinct toasted bread and biscuit flavors,"; "Single Hop [-] Equinox [:] A complex Ameri[CAN] hop featuring a multitude of citrus, herbal and floral notes."

I CANducted the Crack! as usual, but having read some previous reviews, I decided to go with a gentle Glug to see if I could get better clarity. This necessitated an in-glass swirl which raised a finger of foamy, tawny head with modest retention. Color was a very lightly-hazy Deep Amber/Light Copper to Copper (SRM = > 13, < 17), although I want to see if it clarifies as it warms. I keep my reefer rather cool and it CAN sometimes result in a chill haze. Nose had a woody, earthy quality, less bready than biscuity and more herbal/floral than citrus. I somehow hit on potpourri as I CANsidered its odor. Mouthfeel was medium, but very soft on the tongue. The taste had a definite breadiness along with an earthy, flowery spiciness, lightly woody and very reminiscent of the flavors imparted by English hops. The total effect was one of mellowness, not unlike hop tea, which I have mentioned in other reviews. I have had some beers where I felt energized after drinking them and others after which I felt enervated. This was the latter. Finish was semi-dry to dry with a lingering earthiness that reminded me of being in the midst of a home vegetable garden with fresh-turned soil. A very interesting brew, but I want to reserve full judgement until I have had a ChANce to try others in the series. The haziness did somewhat clarify as it warmed, but it retained a light haze throughout. I would recommend a gentle decanting if you are striving for clarity.

 

 

 

Served 39F from the 12 ounce can into a 12 ounce tulip.

No canning date. Since this is a rotating release, I tried to guess at the canning date by looking at the dates of reviews here on Beeradvocate. It looks as though this was canned in April of 2016. Had I realized this in the store, I would not have purchased it. Overall this ale tastes stale. Perhaps placing canning dates on future releases would help improve individual ratings for Long Trail products.

Rich and bright dark copper. Some cloudiness and tranlucense. Looks very attractive in the glass.

Aroma carries mostly malts, albeit stale ones. The hop aroma behind these malts is barely evident.

Caramel, flowery hops, slightly stale malts, and a slightly dirty brewing process. This third variant in the Smash Series just doesn't taste as clean as the fourth Cascade version that I had two weeks ago. This is a nice recipe though and the simplification of of the grain bill and hops make it very easy to isolate certain flavors. Unfortunately this beer is not very fresh, and the most abundant taste in the flavor profile is sour or stale malts.

Mouthfeel is actually quite smooth on Smash #3. Not too heavy for the ABV, and not at all watery. Very nice head retention and lacing. The head on this ale also pours with a nice brownish tint, closer to what you would find in a porter or imperial stout, which is a nice attribute for a darker ale. Mouthfeel is very sugary though. Longtrail no doubt added corn or cane sugar to increase the overall gravity, and this sugar flavoring comes through in the overall product. More of a cheaper older sweet style IPA. Not comparable with the current generation of low IBU, NE IPA's . More of a relic from the last decade where people consumed diabetic sugar bombs.

Overall it's drinkable, but the sour and stale tastes kind of linger on the palette and may ruin your session if you are drinking some other higher end ales. This is also fairly sweet as I could feel it irrigating the fillings in my teeth.

 

 

 

i am quite surprised folks havent enjoyed this one more. its a cool beer, sure its an odd combination, but thats what these are supposed to be about right. i think that the malt might be a little much for these hops, the sweet nutty old world munich malt definitely takes the lead here, crowding out a lot of the more familiar and delicate aspects of the equinox hops, although i kind of like the end result. almost like an esb or something, but twisted a bit toward the german and american ingredients, but the slightly sweet toasty darker malt provides that base, while the hop does enough bittering to make it balanced enough. there is a little of the fruity equinox, like a baked lemon dessert, still fresh and with a lot of life, but lacking some of what makes it so distinct. i think a larger dose of the hops is needed to get this to the level where the equinox can be fully appreciated in all of its glory, but i like the beer anyway, sort of a maltier pale ale to amber, chewy and frothy on the body, well carbonated, and lacking the sweetness usually associated with this grain in the end. fun project too, i would love to try the other beers in the series, looks like some unconventional combinations...

 

 

 

Nice amber color and minimal head, spotty lacnig. Nice effort but IMHO the malty munich takes center stage and puts the hops too far in the background. Nice breadiness from the malt like it should be but feel that it is a touch unbalanced and does not showcase the hops enough