Hops: Loads of unfiltered Citra and Centennial. Aroma: Like blazing a trail through a super thick citrus grove. Flavors: Bright bursts of orange with pithy grapefruit zest and dank papaya undertones. 

When Connecticut Valley started years ago as Pioneer Brewing, they were among the early forerunners of New England Hazies. 

Basically, if The Alchemist and Hill Farmstead are this style’s Lewis and Clark, then Connecticut Valley is Sacajawea. 

And today’s Trailblazer IPA is THE beer that paved the way for these local, small-batch brewers to become Great International Beer Competition Award-winners and an East Coast powerhouse. Each time this flagship brew hits the taproom, it still draws release-day lines that wrap around the block! 

One mouthful of the 8% ABV haze and it’s easy to see why locals are still crazy for this juice. Trailblazer’s lengthy dry-hopping gives it some seriously fresh citrus aromas and fruit explosions on the tongue. 

Now’s your chance to be a haze pioneer in your own right, because you’re among the few fans outside the Northeast to ever get access to Trailblazer. 

And if any of your buddies try to claim that the only good IPAs are old-fashioned clear-as-day hopbombs, well, hand them a taste of Trailblazer and change their mind for good.

Haze pioneers, ho! 

Rated 93/100 on BeerAdvocate; 4.06 on Untappd

Packaged On September 12th, 2019