Sprang
Trillium Brewing Company

 

With a pep in their step and a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed look toward spring, Trillium rings in the warmer season with a Kolsch-inspired hoppy ale.

Simply names Sprang, the light golden and mildly hazy beer floats a soft and creamy froth. Hoppy aromas of citrus, herb, melon and pear grace the nose with a soft and floral bouquet. Gentle wafer sweetness glosses over the tongue with slight cereal, honeysuckle and fresh dough.

Seemingly with an underpinning of fuller pilsner, the malt flavors provide a base taste of crisp fresh grain and a hint of powdered sugar before the hops unfold with notions of white grapefruit, light lemon, apple, pear and white grape. Juicy and with a honeydew roundness, the late taste trends smooth with a medium leveled bitterness of fresh grasses, spruce and peppery green tea.

Light, crisp and refreshing, the ale is bolder, fuller and certainly more hoppy than Kolsch, but calling the beer a session hazy IPA might not grab the attention quite as well. The beer finishes clean, crisp and refreshing with a pep of lingering grain bite and mild hop bitterness.

 

Perfect coloring of straw yellow. Lightly fruity yeast note in aroma and taste, as well as a pleasant hoppy bitterness. Superb beer.

Draft at Trillium in Fenway

My first time actually drinking in one of their taprooms, quick little review on St Paddy’s Day

Pours a turbid pale yellow with 2 fingers of creamy white head that slowly fades to a thin cap and leaves minimal lacing

This, uh, doesn’t smell like a Kölsch. I’m picking up on aromas of grassy hops, mango, orange juice, doughy malt, light white grape, and a touch of pepper

It’s even less of a Kölsch in taste. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting lemon zest, crackery malt, white pepper, earthy hops, and light papaya. The swallow brings notes of grassy hops, orange zest, white pepper, doughy malt, and mango

A medium body pairs with gentle tingling carbonation, resulting in a super dry beer. Finishes dry but the hop character overwhelms

While this isn’t awful, it is not even close to a Kölsch. I do still wanna try Big Sprang since it’s the highest rated for the style but I don’t have high expectations

Very cloudy for a Kolsch. It's also darker, dirty gold. Small but lasting head. Minor streaks and spots on the glass.

Malty, but slightly darker than expected (it matches the color).

Okay, this is simply not a tradition Kölsch. This has a definitive hop flavor balancing the darker, toasty malt. I confirmed from the bartender I received the correct pour. The body is far richer than the style while the carbonation is lower than the expected spritzy-ness. The finish leans to the hop like a pale ale.

Don't misunderstand, this is a good beer. It's simply not a Kolsch.

16oz can, about a month old

Pours a finger of soapy white head into my Sprang Rastal glass. Retention is abysmal, and it fades in less than a minute. Initial lacing looks very poor as well. Body is a hazy straw yellow, apparently everything from the northeast has to have wheat or oats in it; looks nothing like a Kolsch. Really leaning heaving on the Kolsch “inspired” part. Looks poor so far.

Nose is basically just citrus and nothing else, lemon rind, grapefruit, maybe a faint dankness. Tropical flavors come out with time, mango. Smells extremely light, there is no sweetness whatsoever, if I’m being generous, I’d say it’s effervescent. I mean I guess it smells pretty decent, but again, nothing like a Kolsch, smells kinda like a session IPA.

Flavor is the same - this is in no way a Kolsch. I can appreciate adding unorthodox hops, but to this level it just completely changes the narrative of the beer. All you taste is that mango, citrus, light dank hop profile. If there was any kind of backbone it might work, but the malt profile is nonexistent and it’s basically like hop water. All things considered it’s not horrible, but it’s just way too light and almost comes across like a hopped seltzer. They went way too far in each direct; Kolsch here = no malt, and use fun hops = hop assault. Could have found a balanced way to blend this style with some modern hops, but I don’t think this is it.

The biggest problem here is the mouthfeel. As I alluded to, this is watery and seltzer-light, with a paper-thin body. Carbonation is through the roof. Sweetness and/or any malt presence is nil. Bitterness is not evident. Again, not horrible, it stays afloat, but it’s wayyyy to light.

Drinkability is probably the biggest redeeming factor, which I’m sure is what they’re going for.

Appearance turned out horrible, as expected, zero lacing. Not really sure how you mess that one up with the amount of proteins you’d need for a beer this hazy.

Overall, not great. On some sips I could see how this might be appealing to some, and maybe it would work on a hot day with some fresh cut grass, but that’s a pretty narrow window. Generally speaking, way too light, with a hop profile that brazenly leaves everything else in the grave.

 

 

 

Kolsch or not this is fuckin good

This is a great beer.
This is not a great Kolsch, but mostly because its just not a Kolsch at all.

They could have just called it a pale ale, but this being currently rated "#1 Kolsch" is pretty silly and doesn't do justice to the style.

Pour this next to something like Reissdorf Kolsh and just from looking at them you can tell they are different beer styles.

Were the category different I would rate it higher in pretty much every category. But if you want to claim this is a Kolsch, then the rating should be pretty poor, IMO.

 

 

Clearly not a Kolsch, I've had this one several times to see if it would be cleaned up. Is it a decent brew? Sure. Is it something I'd order again? No. Beers like this spread more misinformation and confusion for classic styles, really not sure about the brewers intention was other than coming up with a completely different version of a classic beer that is just wrong in so many ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting beer, for what it was, it was delicious. But I'm rating this lower because this is not what a Kölsch is. A Kölsch isn't hazy like this, and I wouldn't describe it as that style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16 oz. can purchased at Trillium. Poured into Belgian ale glass.

L: 2F foamy white head with OK retention. Spotty lacing. Leaves a cap and ring. Beer is a hazy pale gold.

S: Very malty and yeasty. Bready. Little bit of floral hop stuff.

T: Bready and yeasty with a little bit of citrus, tropical, and floral character. Very neutral finish.

F: Light-bodied, very drinkable. Probably could use a tad more carbonation. Construction and balance are fine.

O: Highly approve of a trip outside of the fruitbombs.