Long Trail Brewing Brewmaster Series Double IPA (Review)

I just recently picked up a 22oz bottle of the Long Trail Brewing Double IPA — the second release in the Vermont brewery’s new “Brewmasters Series” — from my local Whole Foods; what a tasty brew! The Long Trail dIPA is hoppy enough and complex enough for hop heads and beer geeks, but downright tasty enough for even the beer drinking masses.

The Long Trail Double IPA pours a great orange mustard color with tons of pillowy offwhite head that never entirely disappears and leaves behind some great lacing. The nose packs a citrus — white grapfruit, tangerine and probably pineapple — punch which filled my entire kitchen as I poured the beer.

All of the citrus flavors come through in the initial taste as well. The hop presence is definitely there but maybe not as much as you’d expect from something called a “double IPA” — but don’t let that deter you from the beer, either, even if you’re all about the hops. And the hop flavors that are there mix very well with the solid caramel and biscuit-flavored malty backbone. All of which cover up the 8+ percent ABV flavors perfectly.

My favorite thing about the beer, though, was that the citrus hop flavors which were present in the initial sips (and were awfully tasty) slowly gave way to a very piney taste (which was equally tasty) as the beer sat and warmed. So if you’re a fan of both the grapfruit-like hop flavors common of American-style beers and the more intense pine flavors of traditional IPAs, than this beer truly has it all.

I’m not sure how long this beer will be around, especially since the Long Trail Coffee Stout — the first installment of the Brewmaster’s Series — was only on store shelves for a short time. So if you happen across a bottle, definitely be sure and grab one. And with an average rating on the BA boards of an A-, it seems like plenty of people agree — you’ll be happy you did. Cheers.