Trillium Brewing Company (2020)

Obviously it’s not sold in Massachusetts but counterweight brewery makes a great beer called headway. Based on you liking sip of sunshine and see hag that would be a beer you’d probably like. Also it’s nine dollars a four pack. If in CT pick it up.

 

This new batch of DDH Vicinity is even better than the last I think. The cans I got were more fruit forward and smooth and less green tasting.

 

I did not get cans of first batch but had on tap and thought it was good. Had on tap last night at Fenway and enjoyed but cans are outstanding.

 

I let mine sit for a while,so they weren't so green for me, but if this batch is even more fruit forward, that sounds fantastic.

 

Anyone else think that BA Coffee wasn’t as good as the original? Didn’t recall cinnamon being so forward, and that’s all I tasted with this one

 

you would think the cinnamon would fade after a year aging but people have mentioned they add in adjuncts after aging, so perhaps that’s why?

 

I wasn't as fortunate to try the original, but I just had BA Coffee Cake and the cinnamon is prominent, but I still got the coffee notes. Excellent beer.

 

IMO Monkish and The Veil make the most consistently awesome TIPA's. Booze always dangerously well hidden and most are super smooth drinkers.

 

They released a teaser for their 7th anniversary party. March 21st this year.

Did anyone go last year? I am going to be in town for business and I am scheduled to depart that day, but, might change things if it is a worthwhile event.

 

I loved the 6th anniversary event. I went to the early evening time slot and thought it was very well run, tried everything I wanted which included some of their hard to find stuff (permutation 109, BA Affogato, as well as the JWB variant BA Otagoffa). From what I understand they learned some lessons from the earlier time slot which apparently had people continuously waiting in line. Had to do with how they structured their releases of some exclusive stuff during the sessions. Anyway I very much enjoyed it and would definitely recommend.

I'd also point out that it's very Trillium focused unlike a lot of the anniversary events breweries put on. I'd say it was 80% Trillium, and a handful of things from Cantillon, Monkish, maybe The Veil, and JWB. They also didn't announce any of the 3rd-party breweries until well after tickets had sold out, so if you approach it primarily interested in the Trillium offerings and pleasantly surprised by whatever else shows up, you won't be disappointed.

If you do decide you want to go I would stay on top of their instagram announcements--I recall last year tickets selling out within 24 - 48 hours.

 

Thanks @BAllen88 for the info. I believe the low admission price got you in the door with a glass and a ticket for a pour, how much were additional brews? Did it vary by ABV or was it a flat rate for a beer ticket and the size of the pour is what changed?

 

Pours were all 3 - 5 oz, and I believe cost between $5 - 10 depending on what you were getting. I actually can't remember if the price came with any free pours, besides the special anniversary beer they were serving to you when you walked in.

 

While I sometimes rag on my hometown Dancing Gnome, their TIPA's are consistently killer.

 

What’s going on with Trillium’s production?

The can releases seem to be few and far between. I’ve only noticed this over the past couple weeks. How long has the reduced production been going on?

 

Glad to hear they fixed the second session. I went to the first and it was literally waiting in line, getting a beer, getting into a line rinse and repeat. Got to try the beers I wanted but was terribly run.

 

Underrated in what way? I feel like most people would say Vicinity has historically been their best DIPA.

 

I've noticed the same thing and have been thinking about it a bit, and based on nothing factual, I think they're having issues and headed into unknown territory.

- their rate of sell through is down significantly, particularly over last six months
-their business is more capital-intensive than ever because of new locations and huge projects not open to public yet (farm, Reebok hq)
-I think they built new locations under the 'if we build it they will come' idea but the customer base hasn't grown proportionally, so you're splitting the base up without a big return
-regional competition is stronger than ever and the foothold on the NEIPA is no more

There are a ton of other things I could cite, too (like Trillium sending product to Evil Twin and it not selling out for days), but it's all empirical.

All that said, Trillium has yet to dip into distro and I think we will see that soon. They'll need to be smart about it so as to not cannibalize brewery sales (e.g. only distro west of Worcester or out of state, or do draught-only outside of Boston at scale) but I think it's coming. And wild thought, but perhaps lack of direct brewery sales is in anticipation of such a move and they're witholding inventory purposefully.

 

I don't know what's going on but in my world if I'm going to drive hours for a beer run it's going to be to a place with better options than 2 hoppy cans.