Space Juice (Long Trail Brewing)

It seems that one the east coast the 16oz 4pk can is a sacred format. Heady topper at the helm, a tall boy of IPA better be worth it's salt. Lawson's liquids was able to keep to format, and recently the new hot brewery in Richmond, Virginia, the Veil has been cranking out some dynamite 4pks. As a whole the 4pk format has been on the decline, with breweries like green flash and dogfish transitioning all packaged beer to six packs. I attempt to follow most of my associated breweries on social media and have been wanting to get the offering from long trail since first spotted.

Long Trail from Bridgewater Corners, Vermont has been crafting beer since 1989. This year has supplied us with one of my favorite new beers of the year, Green Blaze. Green Blaze is a newer school  recipe IPA, pale in color, very floral, and refreshing. So the announcement of space juice left me anticipating another great IPA from these guys, but so far I have been disappointed. The $17 4pk of this double IPA taste of alcohol, and has that heavy malt bitterness and finish. I do have two beers left to try on another day. The dark caramel color should have been a warning of that malt that would be heading up the flavor department. So I strongly endorse green blaze and the mash project. 

Nimble Giant (Troegs Brewing)

This year saw Kysela finally let go of distribution rights two Troegs. Va Eagle bought the rights statewide and did some horse trading for other brands. I was not super excited at first, but have been very impressed with the recent marketing change and the production of a second limited release hoppy beer in a great format. Nugget Nectar will be the mid to late winter limited release and nimble giant will be the mid to late summer limited release double IPA.

Troegs is a family brewery from Pennsylvania that has been around since 1996, but has been in Virginia for as long as I can remember. They are probably best known for nugget nectar, a seasonal release that causes hysteria every winter. A recent branding update, and new beers such as solid sender and nimble giant have created fresh buzz about this brand. Nimble giant was exactly that, a huge beer that sneaks up on you. With a little more buzz and lead time next year I think this beer will be a new anticipated release that rolls off the shelf as quick as it can be stocked.