So, tonight, let's go back to a beer that I planned on reviewing but switched things on at the last minute. I initially intended on reviewing this beer a few Sunday's ago during family cookie baking night until my brother in law changed my plan. That night, before the BCBS '18 we split, we also shared one of these cans I got in a 4 pack. We discussed what we thought of it and didn't agree when comparing notes.
I had 2 other cans of New Trail Brewing Company's Holiday Cookie prior to that night, super excited to try it each time, and both times I wasn't overly impressed. Full disclosure, each of the three cans I had were enjoyed after having something else beforehand. Maybe my palate was tainted from something else, but tonight, with a fresh and clean palate, I'll enjoy this one last can from the 4 pack.
For the record, and before I review this beer officially tonight, I love what these guys are doing and all other beers I've had either on site or in a can from a local distributor are outstanding. There are lots of IPAs, and that's kinda my thing, so I'm biased there I guess. I've had 3 darker beers that have also beer pretty good as well. We can't forget Little Bear now can we?
As expected with a hazy IPA tonight, it poured a light golden hazy hue with a slight off-white head at the top that had some semi-decent lacing in the glass. The aroma was more distinct when it was slightly warmer in the glass, but regardless, I got some vanilla bean along with what reminded me of sugar cookie. There seemed to be a grapefruit undertone to this as well, which is something that I'm not too fond of in most IPAs. If it wasn't grapefruit, it was definitely some variant of citrus for certain.
According to Untappd, which is the only place I could find exactly what else was going on besides the vanilla and lactose mentioned on the label, it is "heavy handily hopped with Azacca" hops. Azacca is likely where the citrus undertones came from. Something, that for me, doesn't fit what the label and name tell me I'm to expect.
The flavor was absolutely sweet from the lactose addition as well as sticky malts. There is also a sweet vanilla taste to this that sticks around and coats the palate for quite a while. Beyond that, the flavor doesn't really do much else for me.
Looking at the label and the name, I know what I was expecting from this and I didn't get it 4 times in a row. It wasn't my palate, that I can assure you of. This is a fairly decent IPA, but the beer needs a name change. Things just don't add up from what I expected compared to what I tasted.
That being said, I won't rate this either here, or via Untappd. Two of my friends via the app gave it a 4.5 and higher out of a possible 5 stars while 517 others rated the beer globally with a 3.93 out of 5 average rating.
I want to like this beer, I really do, but I just can't bring myself to it.
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