SMaSH Project (Made With Single Malt Maris Otter And Single Hop Mosaic)
Long Trail Brewing Co.

 

From the can, it pours a hazy orange-amber with a nice, fluffy, head. The head lasts. A touch of malt and citrus. The mouth tastes malt and a slight bitterness. Enjoyable.

 

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 [-] Maris Otter [:] A classic English malt with distinct nutty and biscuit notes,"; "Single Hop [-] Mosaic [:] Known for an assemblage of tropical fruit, citrus, pine and herbal characteristics."

Following a loud Crack!, I again employed a gentle Glug, having read previous reviews that mention a range of clarity. The object, for me, is greater clarity, not less. Once in the glass, a swirl raised a finger of foamy, eggnog colored head with good retention. Color was solid Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9) with NE-quality clarity. Nose smelled strongly of tropical fruits, like mango, papaya & tangerine as well as a light biscuitiness. Mmmm. Mouthfeel was medium to full, not quite creamy, but still big for the style. The taste included the aforementioned fruit flavors as well as an unexpected blueberry flavor, which when combined with the biscuity malts, made me think of blueberry muffins! I will also say that the blueberry flavor began to overtake and overpower everything else as the beer warmed. I liked it, but I also realize that such may not be for everybody. Finish was semi-dry to dry with the combination of the malt and hops leaving it mostly dry, but with the unyielding fruity flavors, it was not solidly dry. This series is a really interesting idea!

Poured from a 12 oz. can into a pint glass. Clear amber in appearance, with a 1/2 inch head that quickly receded to thin lace. Malty with floral hops in the nose. Sweet malt on the palate fades to citrus and piney bitterness, very strongly piney in the finish.

Maybe it's the Smash marketing, but this tastes to me like a pure exemplar of the American IPA style. In these times of "heady" amounts and combinations of hops, this is a pleasant alternative. (To quote Thoreau, "Simplify, simplify, simplify.") I like it and would like another, please.

 

 

 

Pours a hazy orange with light lacing. Smells of oranges and malt. Tastes of juicy fruit with slight citrus and a smooth biscuity malt. Lightly carbonated. A nice tasting, unique beer.

 

Interesting concept, really don't expect this to be good at all, marris otter a very mild biscuity pale malt, and mosaic a terrible hop (most of the time), and nothing else.

Pours a much better head than the last, big fluffy creamy 1.5 finger head that fades slowly with soapy lacing, very murky sediment laden honey orange color.

Nose typical mosaic out front, pine sap, earthy dank resin, mild tropical fruits.

Taste brings a nice creamy base pale malt, little biscuity toasty like little grassy doughy, into grassy pine zest, little musty resin, faint tropical fruits, candied citrus and candied pineapple and papaya like, light pine sap, citrus oil citronella like thing, bitter earthy hops lingering, dry but a little sticky finish.

Mouth is med bod nice fluffy carb.

Overall OK, not as bad as I initially thought, but again Mosaic is just a bad hop, but Marris otter base was decent, should have paired a much better hop though.

 

 

Poured an light amber color with a 4F head in a Spiegelau glass.
The head took several minutes to resolve- good sign.

The aroma lasted for the session: floral, pungent, earthy, pine, and citrus. Excellent.

The taste at first was strongly citrus and after a while flattened out. Citrus and orange.

Tart light- bodied MF. Excellent finish- spicy and hoppy.

I greatly enjoyed this beer. Lots of heft for a lower ABV IPA. The aroma was long lasting, the MF and finish prominent.
Long Trail brews drinkable beer with a lot of thought to the balance. I greatly enjoyed this beer.

The beer pours out into a Duvel glass a lightly hazed dark amber color with a 1/2" off white head that soon recedes to a ring of foam and a thin layer on the surface. Sipping creates lots of small scattered patches of lacing. By the end of the glass there's very little foam or lacing visible.

The aromas include some tropical fruits and citrus along with some pine and some biscuity malt.

The flavors are much as expected from the nose with some tropical fruit sweetness and some resiny bitterness all backed up by the malt.

The mouthfeel is on the light side of medium bodied and a bit prickly from the persistent moderate carbonation. The finish begins as the sweetness and fruits recede allowing the resinous bitterness to emerge, spread and then gradually fade away into the dryness that invites another sip.

I'm glad to have tried this beer and if they make another batch I'll probably have more. It's a well made showcase for a single hop and single malt playing nicely together and is well worth enjoying.

A thanks to the founding father of the canquest, woodychandler, for this beer. Has an orange/golden color with a 1 inch head. Smell is of grapefruit, oranges. Taste is grapefruit, some resin, malts seem to be lacking a bit, medium bitterness. Feels medium/light bodied in the mouth and overall is an enjoyable beer.

 

Simple in its design and application, the single-malt and single-hop might not wow the mind with complexity, but both shine brightly with their dedicated and focused use. Marris Otter and Mosaic are certainly a marriage made in heaven.

Gleaming brightly with a foggy orange and amber hue, the frothy ale simply looks its citrus part. And once those fragrances billow into the nose, its full tangerine, lemon and red grapefruit character is mouthwatering. Its soft complexion of pineapple, passionfruit, melon and herb suggests both fruit punch and cannabis with a kiss of match-stick sulfur. To taste, its the grain bill that shines with its mild caramel, pound cake and cashew toastiness.

With the flavors locked intact, the middle palate shows short development. Trending dry and bitter, the sweetness proves to be hearty in its support of the hops even late in taste. Bread crust and nuttiness trail on while the hops show a smooth citrus and a tantalizing tropical taste that rolls across the tongue like sherbet. A graceful bitterness is chocked full of exotic botanicals with the earthiness of fresh grass clippings, resinous pine and again- cannabis.

Malty-dry and crisp in finish, the beer's body remains creamy and hop-balanced thanks to the persistence of barley and the powerful hop textures that stem from bitterness but remain smooth. An aftertaste of citrus peel and gooseberry resonate deeply with those grassy flavors offering an earthen aura of whimsy.

 

Bought a can at the Foodery in Philadelphia. Nice looking beer! Pours a hazy light orange with a half finger of head. The smell really hits you in the face, lots of citrus and tropical fruits right up front. Taste is more on the dry bitter side with some mild fruitiness. I'm assuming this is from the Maris Otter malt. Interesting combination and a really cool concept for a beer. The fruitiness came out more as the beer warmed up...not bad at all :)