Blueberry Soak
Trillium Brewing Company

 

 

 

Pours a raspberry color with a large pink head. The head displays good retention. The carbonation is visible, and there is a presence of floaty sediment.

The nose opens funky with a rustic and oaky character. This gives way to sour aromas that evoke lemon, lime, vinegar and plain yogurt. They are coupled with the fruity twang of blueberry, raspberry and white grape.

The taste displays an expert balance between an intense and mouth puckering tartness, alongside a fruity middle palate. Lots of rustic and funky characteristics, with sour notes of lactobacillus, peppery spices, vinous and a Belgian lambic style oaky quality. Fruity flavors of berries, green apples, grapes, lemon and lime. The finish is bone dry with an intense vinegar and dry cider like linger.

Medium bodied with a crisp mouthfeel. The carbonation is moderate and feels right. The acidic twang is well balanced by fruity flavors and wheat malt smoothness.

This was sublime and so delicious! There is lots of interesting complexity from the barrel aging and a biting tartness. I have another Trillium sour style bottle waiting in the fridge that I now can’t wait to try.

 

Bottle from the Fort Point brewery in Boston on the weekend of EBF. Pours a gorgeous clear ruby red with a pinkish white head and nice lacing, smell is mouthwateringly sour blueberry jam, hints of raspberry, cherry, and vanilla, taste is rice wine vinegar with hints of pomegranate and red currant, this beer is highly carbonated, crisp/sharp, and puckering. A beautiful and fragrant beer, not my favorite on the palette but still a highly enjoyable sour treat!

Huge thanks to Drew for kindly sending me this bottle.

11.2oz bottle -dated 10/Jan/19 - poured into a traditional tulip at 48F.

Pours a wheat beer cloudy red currant/garner red hue, topped with 3 fingers of loud, fizzy, pale pink head that quickly reduces to a stable finger, comprised of very tightly-packed bubbles, which come streaming up by the thousands.

Nose: Sharp, lactic tartness, and some restrained acetic tartness on top of an absolutely jammy bed of blueberry. The blueberry lends other jammy red fruit notes of currant, concord grape, blackberry, raspberry, and with the healthy oak presence, which also lends some vanilla, this really does suggest aromas of petite sirah wine.

Palate: An immediate lactic sourness greets the palate, and does not hold back. The sourness brings suggestions of lemon, as well as a very firm thread of minerality. Flavours of wet stone, wet virgin white oak, some light hay, red wine vinegar, and a vinous red table wine note all play off of the bombardment of sour blueberry that defines this ale. No discernible hop character, save for some extremely subtle bittering hop floral notes that get buried by the blueberry. Zero bitterness. The tartness peaks mid-palate, and then begins to slowly fade through the finish, which is still a bit tart. Once the sourness falls back, some clean malted wheat peaks through, and the soft oak is no longer obscured. The blueberry never disappears, and actually shines particularly well in the finish, because the sourness isn't there to distort it, and on top of the round malted wheat note, and this creamy vanilla from the oak, the ale actually concludes with a sort of vanilla-frosted blueberry scone note. Probably the single most nuanced part of this one.

Mouthfeel/Body: Blueberry Soak is fairly light-bodied, as most sour ales of this calibre are. The malted, wheat, lactobacillus, and oak barrel all lend their own elements of softness, which, paired with the aggressive puffy effervescence, actually give the ale a little bit of texture, and prevent it from even approaching the point of being thin or watery. Tart, puckering, and very dry upfront, finishing bone dry.

Overall: From the little experience I have with Trillium, I get the impression that they're big on highly acidic sours, which seems to be a growing trend. This can be a major flaw in some seriously high-end spontaneously fermented wild ales - however, these are not designed for complexity. These are your run of the mill fruited sour wheat ales. Complexity is not the name of the game with thos style. Usually, this kind of ale wouldn't even be oak-aged, and I greatly appreciate that aspect, and I personally think the element of oak is what really elevates this one. For what it is, it's absolutely fantastic, with a perfect balance of lactic and acetic acidity, with a wonderful oak presence, and an absolutely beautifully integrated fruit addition. A great little oaky sour fruit ale.

 

 

 

 

 

Drank from an 11.2 fl oz (330 ml) bottle purchased at Trillium Brewing Company, Boston, MA
10/JAN/19
Served in a tulip

Gorgeous appearance. The slightly hazed, fuchsia colored body was capped by a fluffy, finger-tall, light pink crown that fizzled down to a thick, foamy, lasting collar. A few streaks and dots of lacing stuck along the glass.

Lots of interesting stuff happening in the aroma. There was a big tart berry presence. Blueberries and blackberries came to mind. Lots of acetic acid. Quite Bretty as well. Barrel notes were also apparent. Slight musty funkiness. The berry notes intensified as the beer warmed.

The flavor profile was intensely sour and acidic. Huge acetic acid presence. Red wine vinegar came to mind. Berry notes were detectable, but the sugars in them seemed to ferment out completely. More zesty, lemony notes on the back end and the finish. Super crisp and bone dry.

Excellent fluffy, lighter bodied mouthfeel. The beer contained a larger bubbled, fairly aggressive effervescence that was almost a bit Champagne-like.

Trillium’s fruited wild ales have a tendency to be extremely sour, and Blueberry Soak was no different. This beer had a fantastic appearance, a complex and well rounded aroma and a terrific, lively mouthfeel, but the flavor was far too mouth puckering for my liking.

 

 

This one pours a light purplish color, with a small fizzy head, and a good amount of lacing.

This smells much less tart than I expected - lots of Trillium's wild ales are enamel-melting. Don't get me wrong - it's still fairly acidic, though. There's some nice fresh tart blueberries here, a bit of lemon, and some oak.

This is fairly simple, but tasty nonetheless. It's very tart, but not overly acidic, with lots of blueberry, and no real funk character - just intense blueberry and some lemon juice. There's a touch of oak, but it's not a big flavor component.

This is light bodied, crisp, and with a big lingering acidity, along with a decent level of drinkability.

I like this much better than some of the offerings in this often bombastic series.

 

 

330ml bottle dated 10/Jan/19

Pours hazy cloudy dark ruby red with a creamy off-white foam head. Smells floral fragrant fruity and funky with fresh tart blueberries, blue fruit, subtle rose flower, lemon acidity, cinnamon-esque baking spice, mild peppercorn, barnyard horseblanket funk, slight vinegar, oak barrel, toasty hay, straw, bready wheaty crackery malt, and floral earthy herbal grassy hops. Tastes really acidic with sour fresh blueberries, tart blue fruit, subtle rose flower, lemon, peppery baking spice, some barnyard farmhouse funk, slight vinegar, oak barrel, toasty hay, straw, bready wheaty crackery malts, and floral earthy herbal grassy hops. Feels medium bodied, juicy with smooth moderate carbonation and moderate high acidity. Overall a nice oak aged fruited sour wheat ale with blueberries.