Troegs Trail Day Dry-Hopped Pilsner

They were dry-hopping lagers closer to Hershey than that...

 

And as I postulated above my guess is your assumption is the case.

Cheers!

 

That appears to be what happened, yes.

 

I’m good to try it. Pretty much all pilsners are drinkable, even if it’s boring to my tastes, there are still many hot days ahead that I can slug these down. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

 

Drinking one now and I'm enjoying the hell out of it !

 

Sunshine Pils is long gone from here, I miss it. Always thought it a great beer.

 

Just IMO there are some high quality pilsners that can be found in NC. I wouldn’t be feeling a big loss for not getting Sunshine anymore.

 

There’s a few, but that was still a great beer.

 

I bought my first Trail Days earlier today. It comes in the four-pack/16 ounce can format. Less than 10 bucks at my local Wegmans.

I will be discussing this beer in an upcoming NBS/NBW thread.

Cheers!

 

Drinking one on the deck fireside right now, really like it. Drinks like a hopped up Sunshine Pils, but it’s not overdone. $9.49 for a 4 pack of pounders for a good cause helps too!

 

So it’s essentially dry hopped Sunshine Pils.

 

When/if you try it let us know which one it is literally, basically or essentially I’m just having fun haha

 

Lol

 

I discussed Troegs Trail Day along with Sunshine Pils in today's New Beer Weekend thread:

Do you like to hike?

My wife and I like to hike and we have often done hikes in what is referred to as the Kittatinny Ridge in Pennsylvania. Principally we have hiked to the top of Hawk Mountain to see the migration of hawks and vultures for their fall migration and we have done the hike to Pulpit Rock and the Pinnacle during all times of the year. Which brings us to the theme of one of the beers I will be discussing today: Troegs Trail Day Dry-Hopped Pilsner. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of this beer goes to helping protect the 185 miles of the Kittatinny Ridge in Pennsylvania.

I have never actually thought about it before but I am now wondering what is the background of the name “Kittatinny”. With the power of the internet I learned that Kittatinny is the anglicized spelling of the Lenape Indian name Kitahtëne which means big mountain. You learn something new every day.

The beer of Trail Day has already been discussed in a thread on BA and there was some discussion about whether this beer will be much different from the Troegs year-round beer of Sunshine Pils. I figured it would be fun to compare the two.

First, some descriptions of these two beers courtesy of the Troegs website:

Trail Day Dry-Hopped Pilsner

This is the beer you want in hand when your compass lands you at trail’s end. Starting with a backbone of German pilsner malt, this refreshing pils is dry-hopped with mildly citrusy and earthy Saaz hops. As fermentation slows, we reintroduce fresh lager yeast, conditioning the beer and delivering crisp and clean notes of biscuit, dried spice and a hint of citrus. And beneath all that is a foundation of good. When you buy a Trail Day, you’re helping protect the Kittatinny Ridge, a 185-mile Appalachian superhighway that provides clean water, rich forests and safe passage for migratory wildlife.

We taste: crisp biscuit notes, dried spice and a hint of citrus

5.0% Abv

Ibu

Malt: German Pilsner

Hops: Saaz

Yeast: House Lager”

Sunshine Pils

It takes the right ingredients, people and processes to nail the complex balance of two-row barley, zesty Saaz hops and lager yeast. Secondary fermentation creates natural carbonation that delivers soft notes of fresh-cut straw and flowering herbs. In the end, this bright and refreshingly clean American craft pilsner is our go-to when the sun is shining and makes us happy when skies are gray.

We taste: bright citrus, flowering herbs, honeyed biscuit

4.5% Abv

45 Ibu

Malt: Pilsner

Hops: Hersbrucker, Saaz

Yeast: Lager

Color: Straw / Golden”

So, these beers ‘read’ quite similar with the difference being:

· A difference of ABV from 5% to 4.5%

· Trail Day is solely hopped with Saaz hops

· Trail Day has the extra hop step of Dry Hopping

For some reason Troegs did not list the IBUs for Trail Day.

Prior to conducting a side-by-side tasting I will elicit help from my lovely wife to conduct a triangle test using small opaque plastic cups (i.e., a blind tasting). The same beer will be poured into two cups and the other beer in one. The purpose of the triangle test is to see if the taste tester (me) can correctly detect the ‘odd’ beer. Let the test begin!



I was fairly certain which was the odd beer simply by smelling the three samples. After taking small sips I was able to confirm which was the odd beer. When I pointed to the odd sample my wife asked: “Which of the beers is the odd beer?” I quickly responded “Train Day” and she replied: “Correct”. While they two beers has similarities they were noticeably different for my palate.

Now, time for the side-by-side tasting.

Served in my Polish Pilsner Glasses:

Appearance:

Trail Day Dry-Hopped Pilsner: Straw colored with a white head.

Sunshine Pils: same

Aroma:

Trail Day Dry-Hopped Pilsner: The first impression is citrus (lemony) but in the background there is some bready malt.

Sunshine Pils: A balanced aroma of herbal/spicy from the hops and bready malt.


Taste:

Trail Day Dry-Hopped Pilsner: The flavor follows the nose with mostly citrus (lemony) and some bready flavors in the background but as the beer warms/opens up there is a subtle yet noticeable flavor of butter (i.e., diacetyl). There is a low-moderate bitterness.

Sunshine Pils: The flavor follows the nose with a pleasant balance of herbal/spicy flavors along with bready malt flavor. There is a firm bitterness.

Mouthfeel

Trail Day Dry-Hopped Pilsner: Light-medium bodied with a dry finish.

Sunshine Pils: Medium bodied with a dry finish.

Overall

Trail Day Dry-Hopped Pilsner: I suppose good overall. I really enjoyed the first half of this beer where the predominant flavors were citrus (lemony) with a hint of bready flavor but as the beer warmed up the butter flavors appeared. This butter flavor was not very prominent but it was there and I am personally not a fan of perceptible diacetyl in beer.

Sunshine Pils: This beer is very good! A very enjoyable balance of hop flavors (herbal/spicy) and bready malt flavor.

I had two beers to drink so I offered one to my wife. She took two quick sips and stated “I will take this one”. The beer she selected was Sunshine Pils.

Cheers!