Beer Review: Broken Heels (New Trail Brewing Co.)
Keeping the streak alive, much like the Philadelphia Flyers are currently doing (are they possibly good this year? Is Carter Hart the future of goaltending in Philadelphia? am I losing my mind? The answer might be yes to all three of those questions by the way), I have managed to continue writing – and often – and keeping it going into today with this being the 10th blog in 10 days. I have also kept the streak going with a new beer each day. (And since its 9AM on a work-day…. I have not yet had my new beer today, sorry to disappoint, but I will as soon as work is over, I promise that.)
Friday’s new beer, and the topic of today’s review is: Broken Heels by New Trail Brewing Co. For anyone who has been following the Breweries in PA Facebook group or page will know, New Trails is the “hot new” “it” brewery in Pennsylvania currently. Along with Imprint Beer, they are the most talked about brewery in Pennsylvania in that group. And I’m not going to flip the script here and say their wrong, its for good reason.
Just taking a look at their Untappd page, their top ten beers are (as per how Untappd has them listed on the side-bar of their Untappd page) :
1) Broken Heels – IPA – American – 3.95
2) Shades – IPA – Imperial Double / New England – 4.19
3) Neither Here Nor There – IPA – Imperial Double / New England – 4.16
4) W.E.S.P – IPA – Imperial Double / New England – 4.11
5) No Brakes – IPA – Imperial Double / New England – 3.99
6) SOB Hill IPA – IPA – American – 3.78
7) Bonfire – IPA – Imperial Double / New England – 4.16
8) Strawberry Haze – IPA – New England – 3.75
9) Broken Paddle – IPA – New England – 4.00
10) Rained Out – IPA – Imperial Double / New England – 4.01
Notice a theme here at all? …..I think I have…..
I did one other review of them before, and it was part of a flight I had at the Hershey Biergarten; I had their Dark Skies: Corvus – a Schwarzbier. It was an exceptional beer. So make sure you check out that review as well, and check out that beer too if you like dark style beers – which isn’t what they are primarily known for (seeing as how the list above is all IPAs or Double IPAs), but I still highly recommend it.
New Trails Brewing Co. has their base and brewery in Williamsport Pennsylvania. They currently have 117 unique beers with a total global rating of 3.97. Their Untappd page description reads: ” We love the outdoors and we love beer. At New Trail Brewing we encourage our friends and neighbors to spend more quality time outdoors experiencing the natural environment around us. We are woodsy types – hikers and bikers, paddlers and kayakers, birdwatchers and stargazers. We are beer enthusiasts. We love beer, and we believe great beer makes life’s experiences taste even better. That’s why we started New Trail Brewing Company, to make great beer for everyone to enjoy when you dare to explore new places, do new things, take new trails, and have truly memorable adventures. We preserve the great outdoors and enhance the experience of getting out there. New trail brewing company is committed to preserving the wild wonders of Pennsylvania. We connect with a wide range of people and organizations in our area dedicated to elevating the quality of, and access to, our region’s outdoor resources, including local trails, PA Trail Dogs and more. Our brewery culture seeks to facilitate meaningful relationships between our neighbors and our natural heritage. We feel there is a creative connection between nature and beer. That’s why we brew fresh, great tasting, locally made beer for people active in outdoor recreation, and why we strive to manage our beer making process to have the least impact on our resources. We want to help people get out in the natural universe. It’s good for them, for our community and for the outdoors. We hope you’ll join us. “
Beer: Broken Heels
Brewery: New Trail Brewing Co.
Style: IPA – American
ABV: 7%
IBU: None
Untappd Write-Up: Broken Heels is a “Hazy” India Pale Ale. Brewed with oats and pilsner malts and hopped aggressively with an assortment of newer American grown hops in the Pacific Northwest. This beer has a full mouthfeel with low bitterness meant to be soft on the palette. High aromatics lead the consumer through a treasure trove of their favorite tropical fruits and wanting more of the very quaffable beer.
Appearance from draft pour is straight orange juice. Pictures from can looks the exact same way as well. Which is always a good indicator of quality and consistency. A draft pour shouldn’t look too much different than a pour from a can or a bottle (assuming the cans and bottles were handled properly and stored properly). Its hazy, unfiltered, glowing orange, with a small ring of head at the top that dissipates quickly, but as you drink this down it leaves a wonderful lacing.
Aroma is citrusy and fruity hops. Its not a complete hop bomb but you get a very aromatic fruity and citrus hop aroma as soon as its set-down in front of you. It smells like a clear crisp IPA should.
This is like drinking hoppy juicy dank orange juice. It is so full of citrus fruit juicy hop taste and is just so easy to drink. You get a flourish of hop notes as soon as you start sipping, you get citrus, you get the tropical fruits, you get practically no bitterness, you just get a smooth drink. The pilsner malts and the flaked oats gives this a really smooth and tasty brew and just makes it like a wonderful NEIPA that drinks easy. After one sip of this you can quickly see why New Trails Brewing Co. is known for their outstanding IPAs.
My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.95 (as of 11.10.19)
Ten days down, ten blog posts down. One third of the way there! Only twenty more to go! This is flying by and is easy breezy! (….sort of.)
Ok folks, check back in tomorrow for the next one! Cheers!
-B. Kline
