Beer Review – Long Trail Belgian White

June 15, 2009

Long Trail Belgian White Beer Review – By Liz

When I was looking for a beer to pick up for our most recent beer exchange for The Brew Club, I was simply delighted when I came across the Long Trail Belgian White.  I’ve always been a fan of the beers brewed by Vermont’s Long Trail Brewery, and I first learned about them (and probably accounted for most of their sales) when I went to college in Vermont.

Almost every Long Trail beer that I’ve tried  has been great, and I haven’t been disappointed yet!  Let’s hope their Belgian White continues in that tradition!

You may remember a few months back we reviewed the Long Trail Hibernator and found it to be a pretty good Scottish style Winter Ale.  Still, my personal favorite is their Blackberry Wheat and I hope to review that beer for you sometime in the future.

On to the Belgian White!  The label tells us that this beer is (not surprisingly)  “Unfiltered and all natural, our Belgian White features soft notes of citrus and traditional spices that result in a crisp, refreshing flavor.” Let’s see if it lives up to that description!

As I pour the beer into my official beer glass (no more super-weak iced tea glass – In your face Scott!) I notice that it produces a pretty decent head of foam, about an inch or so.  As I take a whiff of this brew, I can clearly smell the citrus that they were talking about on the label.

Taking my first swig, I indeed get a feel for a light citrus lemony flavor.  Its also pretty crisp, but not too crisp and it doesn’t leave your mouth with a dry feeling.  As mentioned, the label states that this Belgian style beer is unfiltered, but you couldn’t really tell because the beer didn’t really appear cloudy at all.  It’s a light straw color and I noticed that the carbonation bubbles were still going through it even after I had opened it five minutes previous.

The head and the lacing of the beer on the glass has died down quite a bit as I continue to drink the brew, but that doesn’t take away from the flavor and it doesn’t leave the beer flat.  Even as I take my time sipping this brew, it remains light and refreshing and at a reasonable 4.7% ABV I think that this is a perfect brew for a summer time B-B-Q.

I’m very happy to see that Long Trail has been expanding their beer selections out to New Jersey and other locations considering its a small Vermont brewery.  Still, their production has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years and as a matter of fact, Long Trail was ranked #23 of the Top 50 Craft brewing companies (by volume)in 2008!

In conclusion, I really recommend that you give this beer a try, especially if you like the Belgian White beer style.   It seems like everyone is coming out with their own version of this popular style, but to me, this one stands out as one of the best.  I also happen to think that the Long Trail Belgian White would make a great ‘gateway beer’ for the occasional beer drinker or even anyone who isn’t used to ‘craft’ beers.

Overall I give Long Trail Belgian White 4 stars!  A great beer for this time of year!
Rating:

Liz

Posted in 4 Star Reviews, Ales, All Brews Reviewed, American Beers, Wheat Beers