Can we have a Long Trail appreciation thread? I've had a number of their IPAs as of late, and IMO they are killing it. The aroma on their hoppy beers are up there with the big guys. Maybe this thread won't get a lot of replies, LT is definately slept on, or maybe well known but coasting under the radar, IDK. I visited their brewery a couple years ago and wasn't really that excited about it, but as of late I've been nothing but impressed by them. So discuss, thoughts on what they've been doing, good beers they've been putting out, ect.
They used to have a bunch of good beers that were sold in bombers like the imperial porter and coffee stout. I noticed they have phased out that kinda stuff and have jumped on the hop forward train. I guess I prefer the old Long Trail before they went hop crazy. I remember enjoying their old pale ale and thinking how hoppy it was at the time. Times have changed. Double Bag is still solid though IMO. Space Juice, Green Blaze, and Limbo are great representations of the style but me personally Id rather drink their Cranberry Gose as Im not really an IPA guy. I thought their old English IPA was fine enough for what it was and enjoyed it. Enjoy your hop forward beers but I miss the old Long Trail.
You can certainly start a LT appreciation thread; I am just not sure how much traction it will get. I personally appreciate LT in the same way I appreciate Chili's restaurant. It is better than a lot of the other chain restaurants, but ultimately, it isn't leading.
I think the question should be who is doing NE style IPAs with the same distro? Are they in the top five no, but I would argue very few or no one has the distro. I can get Green Blaze, Limbo etc fairly easily. No jumping through hoops!
I'm torn on the "new" Long Trail. I've had Limbo a few times and Green Blaze once (albeit with about a month of age on it) and haven't been too enamored. The ale is what got me into craft beer, my wife loved Blackbeary Wheat and I was a huge fan of the old Belgian White -- Mostly Cloudy doesn't taste like the same beer to me. I understand why they jumped on the hop train, but I still miss the cartoon bear days.
Just bought a 12 pack of the release of Blackberry yesterday for "old times". Not really my style, but I have always enjoyed on a hot day. Crisp, refreshing, fruit is light and not fake. Not sure why they took it out of their rotation.
Had a few sips of Space Juice (not enough to write a review or enter a rating), but I thought it was a pretty great DIPA. Obviously not like Sip, Heady, Haze, etc. but a really big hoppy and bold one that stood on its own. Would love to try the full 16oz. Thought Limbo was good but not great. Other than that I couldn't recall ever being a big fan of Long Trail, mostly stayed away after I was done with all the basic craft beer like Sam Adams, Harpoon, Saranac, etc.
The new Cranberry Gose is fantastic. Green Blaze is an interesting update to their old IPA but I often get something of an unripe bannana taste from both it and Limbo that keeps me from fully loving either of them. I drank a lot of the original ale back in the day but it's been forever since I've had one. I should probably fix that.
Solid points, I have been enjoying their hoppy beers, though I did like their imperial porter when I had it on tap. Didn't realize they didn't brew it anymore. I get concerned by this sort of thinking. Its nothing against you personally but just because they aren't hyped doesn't mean they aren't good. Hype unfortunately isn't all there is to beer. I've been drinking a lot of their IPAs lately, having had beer from the big guys, and have been impressed by the aromatics. IMO they aren't quite as good as a TH or Hill Farm, but considering they are pretty available, you don't have to wait in line for them or drive hours to get them, and the quality (IMO) is close to that of some of the big guys, I'd say its worthy of appreciation.
Like I said, I appreciate Chilis as well, in fact I ate there tonight and enjoyed some newburyport green head ipa with my tacos. I do appreciate that I can easily buy some LT offerings in most New England packies and often do. To you point about hype, yes certainly there is plenty of that in the craft brew scene, but honestly, IMO, the more hype a brewery has the damn better their beer should be. Hype is not a a beer ingredient, but I will judge a brewery/beer negatively if one of their beers doesn't live up to it. I am harder on TH or Trillium beers precisely because they are harder to get and have more hype. Thankfully, most of the beers I have had from both of those breweries have indeed been amazing. Is Limbo or double bag by LT amazing? NO -pretty good? yeah. Am I happy that I can walk to a packie and get some easily at a reasonable price, hell yeah.
I feel like this may morph into a nostalgia thread. I bet Long Trail had a formative place in so many BAs' craft journey. Barrel aged triple bag blew my mind when I had it last year. Such a great strong ale. Haven't picked up a sixer of anything from them for over a decade but you better believe if I see anything barrel aged I'm giving it a shot. I have their imperial porter on my list of beers to try since I assumed it would be easy to find. Haven't seen it yet...
I really liked Limbo and Space Juice. No mention of their SMaSH series? It's pretty good and in cans. Other than that and occasionally double and triple bag, I don't drink much Long Trail anymore. Mostly local stuff now.
Love the brewery pub which is strategically located on the way to Killingon for us flat landers coming up to VT. It has always had a good/local vibe. Never been a big fan of their beers mainly due to their use of Ringwood yeast in most/all of their ales. Very distinctive profile and to some palates - a real vile taste. Not sure if they have moved away from this w/their trend toward hoppier beers. I will stop in this winter and see....
I was a big fan of the Galaxy/Pilsner combo. Didn't care for Mosaic/Maris Otter, and while it was decent, was let down by Citra/Golden Promise.
