New Trail provides new options
March 1, 2024
New Trail Brewing is not just another new beer line available in West Virginia: It might be the most interesting brewer to enter the state since Jackie O’s Brewery started selling here in 2022.
It’s not like West Virginia hasn’t seen a bunch of new craft breweries enter our state over the past couple of years. And all of them have some high spots in their line-ups. In our view, though, New Trail may have more high spots than most of the others for making affordable, very drinkable beers in today’s popular styles.
I also think New Trail has a brand culture that should fit in well with West Virginia. A descriptor on the brewery’s website sums it up: “We love the outdoors and we love beer. We are woodsy types. .. We are beer enthusiasts.” Sounds like us.
Founded just six years ago
Founded in 2018, New Trail is based in the small Appalachian-region city of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The brewery is led by its owner and Director of Brewing Operations, Mike LaRosa. Before taking the reins at New Trail, LaRosa honed his craft for years at top-quality places like Kane Brewing in New Jersey and Tired Hands Brewing in PA. He learned his craft well.
“We focus on making rapidly rotating hazy IPAs and extremely enjoyable and identifiable flagships,” said LaRosa in an interview with BevNet.com. I can tell him, we’re looking forward to that variety, as we welcome New Trail Brewing to West Virginia.
Brewery growth
LaRosa must have the magic touch because, as we hear it, New Trail is the fastest-growing craft brewery in the country right now. According to Dakota Farmer, who is Malt Division Manager for the labels’s WV distributor, Mountain State Beverage, the line is on fire. He says New Trail is now in the top 100 brands nationally, with over 400,000 cases sold in Pennsylvania alone in 2023. Beyond West Virginia, the line also recently expanded into New Jersey and Maryland.
Over the past several years, New Trail Brewing Company grew faster than any other regional-sized brewer in the United States. Its current production rate sets the brewery on pace to brew around 50,000 barrels this year.
Part of the rapid growth was becoming the brewer of State Light (lager), the official beer supporting Penn State University athletics. (Not sure if this is a good thing for them here in WV — Go Mountaineers!)
Hazy IPAs lead growth
Industry sources say most of their growth has come from Hazy IPA sales. New Trail Brewing reports that it is the most popular producer of Hazy IPA styles in Pennsylvania. Its sales are led by the flagship brands Broken Heels Hazy IPA, Double Broken Heels Hazy DIPA, and Gear Head Hazy Pale Ale.
A quick check of Untappd shows IPA to be far and away the most common beer style they have brewed. The following list shows New Trail’s Top 10 most common beer styles, for the different beers they have released since they opened in 2018, and the count for each style.
- Hazy IPA (Single) – 64
- Hazy Double iPA – 55
- Milkshake IPA – 18
- Triple IPA – 12
- New Zealand IPA – 6
- Imperial Stout – 9
- Milk Stout – 8
- Pilsner – 7
- Amerian Lager – 5
- Fruited Sout – 5
Beyond IPAs, New Trail offers a variety of other classic beer styles. Among them, the brewery gained great sales momentum from its Crisp Lager. That beer, which is very competitively priced, provides a light and very refreshing taste that has caught on big-time in Pennsylvania.
New Trail in WV
New Trail supports its entry into WV with a full-time, dedicated rep (Tori Boling) based in Morgantown. With the state roll-out occurring just in the last two weeks, New Trail beers are first appearing at independent bars and specialty beer retailers across the state. Dakota Farmer tells us he expects more chain accounts to come online soon, but the independent market will remain their primary focus.
As for WV beer retailers, Dakota says New Trail beer can already be found in higher-end, consultant Kroger stores, The Wine Shop at Capitol Market (Charleston), Apex Beverage (Huntington), Drug Emporium stores, and certain Fruth Pharmacy locations. New accounts are being added weekly.
Beer Ratings
New Trail Brewing earns a very good overall Untappd rating of 3.96 out of 5 possible points. It achieved that score from over 677,750 unique ratings on 262 different beers that the brewery has released since it opened in 2018. The 3.96 rating puts the brewery among the higher-rated American regional/national breweries currently marketing in West Virginia. For comparison, one of my favorite recent additions to WV, Jackie O’s Brewery, scores an overall 4.04, meaning we should expect a somewhat similar quality from New Trail.
At launch, WV is getting a representative set of beers from the brewery.
| Launch Brands in WV | Untappd Rating | Year Introduced |
|---|---|---|
| Broken Heels Hazy IPA | 3.93 | 2018 |
| Double Broken Heels Hazy DIPA | 4.12 | 2019 |
| Crisp Lager | 3.65 | 2022 |
| Stormy Horizons Hazy DIPA | 4.03 | 2023 |
| Elk Tracks Ice Cream Stout | 3.92 | 2022 |
| Field Guide Hazy IPA | 3.92 | 2024 |
Also hitting the WV market is a Variety 12 Pack. I expect it will include Citrus Summit Hazy Juicy IPA (Untappd 3.88), along with Broken Heels Hazy IPA, Double Broken Heels Hazy DIPA, and Replenish West Coast IPA (Untappd 3.84).
Now let’s take a look at how New Trail stacks up with a couple of West Virginia’s best brewers based on Untappd ratings (late Feb. 2023).
| Brewery | Unique Ratings | Different Beers | # Beers Rated 4.0 or above | Percent Rated 4.0 or above |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short Story | 33,450 | 117 | 45 | 38.5 |
| Stumptown Ales | 29,100 | 122 | 34 | 27.9 |
| New Trail | 667,750 | 262 | 99 | 37.8 |
All three of the above breweries are best known for their modern IPAs. IPAs are today’s most popular craft beer styles. With New Trail achieving ratings roughly in line with our state’s highest-rated brewers, we should expect some good things from New Trail, especially if you are a fan of Hazy IPAs.
New Trail pricing
From a business standpoint, beer pricing immediately jumps out to me. What I’m always looking for are beers that offer high quality at a moderate price This could be where New Trail Brewing shines brightest.
New Trail IPAs are priced at or below the IPAs from other regional brewers of similar quality. We’re seeing their flagship Broken Heels standard IPA selling at around a $12 to $13 price point for a four-pack of 16 oz. cans. Of course, their DIPAs carry a bit higher prices. Anyway, New Trail products seem to be very competitively priced for beers in its category.
For another example: New Trail’s Crisp Lager retails at around $8 for a six-pack of 16-oz. cans. That’s well below the price that retailers offer any other craft lager that I’ve seen. First introduced in Pennsylvania in 2022, Crisp Lager comes in at 4.8 % ABV. It’s clean, light, and tasty. It should pair extremely well with warmer weather.
Crips Lager promo
Crisp Lager’s competitive price, combined with its good quality quickly got the attention of one of the state’s top publicans. Jeff McKay, owner/operator of Summit Beer Station in Huntington, said he’s been searching for a new partner for his regular Friday draft beer promo. Last week, he announced Crisp Lager would fill that spot for the foreseeable future. With its friendly pricing, he’s able to offer $3 pints at his Crispy Hour all day on Fridays.
“With the increased interest in craft lager and New Trail’s support and competitive pricing, it was a no-brainer,” Jeff said.
At Summit Beer Station and his Apex Beverage craft beer retail store, McKay is used to paying top dollar to get the best beers available, but he also appreciates value. He sees the New Trail line filling an attractive spot in the market.
“From a business standpoint, the pricing immediately sticks out to me,” he says. “The beers are quality and don’t break the bank. The branding resonates in West Virginia, and $13-$15 hazy IPA four packs are built for repeat purchases.”
I agree, these are sweet prices for beers of this quality.
So why don’t you get out to your favorite craft beer bar or retailer and try some New Trail brews. We’d love to hear what you think of them.
New Trail Brewing Co.
240 Arch St.
Williamsport, PA
Website Link
To order New Trail beers for your bar, restaurant, or beer store, contact: Dakota Farmer at Mountain State Beverage.
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