NightShift, Idle Hands, Mystic and Trillium

Night Shift- Their regular offerings (to me at least), leave much to be desired. Their berliners are delicious and right up my alley, especially Ever Weisse. I like what they are doing with the Art series (although not all the beers are hits), since if I could have it my way all craft breweries would offer pilot/experimental versions on tap at the brewery as often as possible. The Barrel Society program needs a little more time before being judged, although I'm definitely looking forward to the next release called "Jester".

Trillium- Only time I went I just needed to pick up some local swag and couldn't lug a growler around, but I'm excited to go back. The reviews seem pretty solid. Also their logo looks sweet on a glass. The retail space is tiny though.

Idle Hands- The only time I've ever actually successfully found them open was during a Night Shift party, but the propreitors seem like good people. I've had a few of their beers despite that fact, and found them all decent. I've yet to be blown away, but I've never really been disappointed either.

Mystic- I've yet to get to their new tasting room, which I hear is quite nice. They seem to be a bit "on the cusp". They've got their space figured out and most of their beers are in the 3.8 to 4.1 range on BA. They just need that breakout beer that grabs everyone's attention. Or they can continue on like they are doing, making some good saisons and building a local community. That's a pretty good plan too.

 

I like Mystic a lot, the prices are beyond fair for growlers. And they do 32 oz growlers not 750s for exactly half price of a 64 oz. While their beer is unfortunately not world class, their saisons are definitely solid. I really enjoyed Mary of the Gael, their 'spring' saison and An Dreolin, their "winter" saison.

 

Havent had trillium, but I love Idle Hands beers, especially the Belgo stout and BBA triplication. I may be biased though as i prefer belgian beers. Night shift continually underwhelms me, and the rose saison is one of my least favorite beers. Mystic is awesome, but i havent been to the brewery, so ive only had it at storea or fests, but again i am biased

 

I love Night Shift's berliners & pretty much every "special" release I've had from them - that being said, as a few have mentioned, their regular beers, other than Somer Weisse, range from nothing special to not particularly great. I also love their branding/swag, etc., which they do a really good job on - that, plus them being social media friendly, accounts for a bunch of their success, I think.

I think Idle Hands produces the consistently best beer out of the three I've had (Mystic/Night Shift/Idle Hands) - although IH seems to be more focused on brewing solid beers to style than experimenting (which is 100% fine by me - but I also like trying new things).

Mystic has certainly made some good beers - but they have also made a bunch of stuff that I think is relatively terrible, like the new oatmeal stout. They also seem to be more English-influenced than the others, which might account for this, as my palate is strongly biased against English beer. They're my least favorite out of the three easily. That being said, I'm happy to drink most of their beers - this is more a worst of the best for me, rather than the other way around.

We're very lucky to have these three in the area, and I'm excited to try Trillium!

 

None of these guys get a ton of my business (that might change if Trillium's pale ale is as advertised), but I thought the oatmeal stout was great. I'm looking forward to the rauchbier.

 

I thought the Mystic oatmeal stout was pretty good. Bought a couple bottles the last time I was there. Their beer has been great for me except that first batch of saison. The couple different Entropy blends I had were outstanding.

 

I can't speak for Trillium - haven't had any yet. But as for the other 3, I've tasted a bunch of their beers at each of their tasting rooms and then had a bottle or two at home from each. It's not quite an apples-to-apples comparison between the 3, but what I'd first reach for is...

1. Night Shift - I like their creativity and everything I've tasted was quality

2. Mystic - a very close second - I think they're capable of great(er) things, and enjoy many of their saisons, but I've had a dud or two in their lineup (thought the quad was terrible)

3. Idle hands - a mixed bag. Generally, I don't love enough what I've had to keep choosing them over other breweries, but I find them interesting enough to try again every now and then. I'm sure they have a killer brew up their sleeve.

Lastly, I will say that all brewers seem like good people in person that I'd enjoy supporting, albeit to varying extents.

 

I agree with just about everything in this post, but especially the part I've quoted and ranking Night Shift highly for their quality and creativity. The only thing I'd add is that Idle Hands has grown on me substantially in recent months. I've especially enjoyed their "Absence of Light" winter seasonal. Very tasty.
http://www.idlehandscraftales.com/site/libations/special-releases/absence-of-light/

I've only had one growler of Trillium's flagship beer, but enjoyed it a lot. I look forward to trying more of their offerings.

Side note: I ran across this blog post a few months ago and love the description of the close proximities of Night Shift, Idle Hands, and Mystic as the "Beermuda Triangle."
http://www.packiemchophead.com/2013/02/mystic-tasting-room.html

 

I get them confused as I only have very limited experience with some of these breweries - some samples and a bomber or two - and they seem to all be offered in large format bottles and make "weird beers"(ie. sours, non traditional ingredients, belgian yeasts, style mash ups). I liked one sour beer from Mystic, but beyond that so far nothing has really stood out for me except some off flavors. Maybe if they ever evolve beyond nano stylings and offer some consistency in beers affordable enough for daily drinking, or make a killer IPA, I'll pay more attention in the future. More excited for new comers like Jack's Abby and Newburyport and whomever elses business model and beer preferences allows for everyday styles/pricing.

 

What are everyone's thoughts on Night Shift Rose? Of all the beers I sampled at their tap room, this is the only one I really liked, and it was by leaps and bounds over the others (honestly I think their new Oasis is pretty subpar).

 

That was the first bottle I bought from them when I did a tasting there...it stuck out as my favorite of the bunch. I drank it with Thanksgiving dinner and really liked it. A bit surprised it doesn't score higher than an 82 on here.

 

I haven't had Trillium, but I've had several examples of each of the others. My favorite by a good margin of Mystic. Although I've been hit or miss on some of their offerings (3 Cranes, Descendent while Old Powderhouse just isn't a style I like), I really like all of their Saisons. I like the base Saison more than most and I love the Sauvignon Blanc, Vinland One, and Renaud versions. I also have to admit I really like their story and all of their branding so I might be giving their beers a halo effect.

I tried the range of Idle Hands and Nightshift at one of the Drink Craft beer festivals and thought both seemed like great folks dedicated to making good beer. I think Nightshift is the more interesting brewery and their Somerweisee is great. It sounds like I need to give Idle Hands a more serious sample.

 

I spoke to one of the brewers about it - I really enjoyed this variation - he said the problem is they can't get the barrels. But they're planning to do it again.

 

The latest version of rose with less rosemary and the addition of lacto is pretty awesome.

 

My thoughts:
I love Idle Hands beer when I'm in the mood for anything Belgian. Patersbier is a great table beer and the darker beers are great as well. The D'asion was cloudy and full of yeast flavor last weekend, just what I would have hoped for. Their bourbon triple was on par with Confluence and their first sour was pretty good. Will try the new sour this weekend. Great staff and I look forward to the expansion. I mostly get growlers because I like fresh cheap beer.
Night shift: I find their beers rough and gimmicky. That's my personal taste. Too many off the wall ingredients that don't mesh. I suppose I could try again but I go to Idle Hands a lot and skip them every time.
Mystic: I need to check out the tasting room. Pretty good saisons, the descendant was quite good, and I really enjoyed the new oatmeal stout Wigglesworth. Looking forward to the Rauchbier; nothing beats smoked BBQ and smoked beer! They have one hell of a recipe formulator in Alistar and I've had a few of his amazing homebrews that perfectly nail classic styles. Blows my beer out of the water.
Might drop by Trillium today for a growler to try them out.

 

ooooh! lacto in the new batch? how did i miss that?? guess i know where i'm going this weekend.