Never & Again
Trillium Brewing Company

Traded for this a while ago, as the date on the bottom of the can read 9/22/16 with "TRILLIUMISH" written below it. Yes, I let this sit for a while and yes, there were ton of floaties in it but even with that in mind, I was still not impressed with this beer. It tasted like pure mangoes with a ton of puree, dankness, and hops thrown into the mix. If you like your beer to take like tropical juice from Aldi or Costco, you've found your match here!

Keeping up with the mango theme, the appearance of this beer was of mangoes as it was a deep, muted orange hue with tons of sediment in it and plenty of head to top it off. Hardly any lacing was left behind as I worked my way through this, which wasn't a surprise given how thin the liquid was. Tons of mango, citrus pith, and dank woodsy notes prevalent in the nose as they all came through even stronger once I took a sip of this. Incredibly dank, somewhat juicy, and full of pith, this was not a light beer nor one that would please many. The mouthfeel was fine but let's face it - the taste and overall impression are what we like and that wasn't that wonderful here. This was too heavy and full of juice to be completely appreciated, which is *not* the same as a beer feeling juicy. Yes, I was able to get this down but the dank, tropical feeling of melon and cantaloupe were too much for me...even after this fully warmed up.

There was enough booze here but when something misfires by this much, who even cares? Yes, I let this sit for a while but I couldn't imagine that this was anything outstanding when consumed right off of the line. Based on on the range of ratings on here, most people would either want this to go away or come back in a future release. Consider me in the former camp, as I hope that this is radically different the second time around, if it even gets another go-around...

Drank October 24, 2017 - given the horrible reviews I decided to sit on this for as long as possible and believe it or not, I was pleasantly surprised with it, likely due to the negative anticipation.

Look - 4.5 - The beer glowed orange - the mango bed it sat on was really evident! The only reason I don't give it a 5 is because it lacked any type of head, and had more of a "boil" which was odd to say the least.

Smell - 5 - Fruit just hits you in the face. Period.

Taste - 4.5 - Really nice. OK, fruit juicy until you get to the bitter portion - which wasn't half as bad as what I was expecting. In fact I didn't mind it at all. It was like chewing on an orange skin, not that I've done that often, if ever, well maybe if chocolate is involved... But I am one of those guy who - when I squeeze a lemon to get the juice for cooking - I separate the seeds and eat the pulp - so the bitter back taste of this beer just added a dimension for me. If you drink it slowly, which I did, the bitterness kinda went away - but I can see how it would get really obnoxious if you drank it quickly. Not one that I would readily search out again, but certainly not one that I would ding the way others have.

Feel - 4.5 - Normal medium mouthfeel for Trillium juicy IPAs.

Overall - 4.5 - I'm glad I was able to try one. I think age improved this beer but I don't think any further age will make it much better. Drinking this beer fresh? I would have avoided at all costs and sure - that must have accounted for the really negative reviews. All in all - Trillium knows this was probably its biggest failure and it should have drain poured the entire batch in the first place (Trillium is big enough now, and was then, to absorb the cost, but that's a different discussion), but over a year later, I clearly enjoyed drinking it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This beer looks ridiculous. Like fruit purée. It smells amazing. Tastes odd. Like a carbonic bite. Mango bitterness. Doesn't come together. The bitterness and the carbonic bite take over.