Long Trail Harvest Barn Ale

This weekend I did a bit of a stock up run at Craft Beer Cellar in Newton, and I noticed that many breweries were swapping out their fall seasonals for winter beers. This is actually reasonable, November is close enough to winter to justify starting this transition, this is nothing like pumpkin beers showing up on store shelves in July. With winter seasonals on the way in I’ll try to wrap up my reviews of fall beers over the next week or so. Long Trail Brewing Company in Vermont releases a brown ale called Harvest Barn Ale every fall. Brown ales have never been my favorite style, but the medium to full body and solid malt sweetness nicely complements the brisk weather of the fall. Harvest is brewed with the addition of one of Vermont’s signature products, maple syrup, which adds a little residual sweetness and helps the malty flavor of the beer sing. Long Trail Harvest is available in 12 oz. bottles and on draft during what’s left of the fall season.

Long Trail HarvestLong Trail Harvest Barn Ale pours a clear deep brown with a mild off-white head. The scent is a mixture of brown sugar with a little floral hop kick. The taste is led off by a full complement of malt, notes of caramel, whole grain bread, toasted barley and maple syrup. This is balanced by just a hint of hops, some earthy and woodsy flavors with a touch of bitterness. The beer is very drinkable, medium bodied with a solid mouthfeel and a crisp finish that leaves a bit of malty sweetness on the tongue. At 4.4% ABV it is a session beer by most definitions, something you don’t typically find in a malty brown ale. Long Trail Harvest is a very well done fall beer, easy to drink but enough body to hold up to the chilly weather we’ve been experiencing as of late. Grab a pint before the last of the fall beers are edged out by winter ales and snow covers everything! Hoppy Boston score: 4.25/5.

Previous Long Trail Reviews:

Long Trail Limbo, Long Trail Ramble, Long Trail Double Bag

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