Trillium (2022)

Motueka is one of my favorite hops. Single hop motueka pale from HF is one of the best hoppy beers I’ve ever had. That said, I don’t think I’ve had it in a trillium beer and found it to not stand out in the 1 or 2 TH beers I’ve had with it.

 

Is anyone going to roll the dice on this new batch of Swishium?

 

I’ve always enjoyed it before. Stop the hatin!

 

I'm hoping they have it on tap at one of their city locations next Thursday as I will be in town for the Yankee game and have never had it...

 

Had it on tap at Fenway yesterday. So pithy I couldn’t finish my pour. Hopefully the cans are better for folks but definitely found it disappointing. Better to just stick with Congress St.

 

I had a knee jerk reaction when I saw that it's $24.20 for a 4 pack. Not ruling it out but yikes.

 

Visually it looks like more of the same. They still haven't done anything to give me hope that their hoppy beers have improved in any way...

To think 5 years ago I spent about $2k in a year at Trillium and now I could care less about trying what they put out. What a turn of events.

 

I’m in the same boat, but the fact is I still really like their beer, when they do it right. But Swishium and a couple others are really the only beers that have come out over the past few weeks / months that only partially interest me. It seems I keep seeing these big announcements for beers like Compass, Crib and the Small Bird series beers. Whatever floats your boat but should the beer world be getting that excited about a 5% corn lager?! I actually tried it, and it’s pretty good, but really! Really? Come on JC! Are you running a brewery or a pizzeria combined with a popularity contest? Have you even bothered to look at the IPA game in Charleton lately? And what’s up with your stout program? It’s been months now.

Don’t get me wrong man, I really want to like you like I once did, but there really are fewer and fewer reasons to do so! Please please, sell out already, or get in some seasoned brewery management who can manage the place like it once was!! Stop this high fiving with Sam! No one cares about a three course meal with a sour for dessert! And Esther writing kids books! Good for her, but for me, it’s about the beer and I’m just not seeing it.

 

It's kind of hard to establish a reputation as an IPA producer and pivot hard into promoting a lager. I don't think the credibility is there even though, at this point, Trillium has been producing lagers for a while. I guess when you're also producing so many of what you are known for, it's hard to get people excited for anything in that category besides one offs and collaborations. What do you promote?

I am mostly replying to you, @hopley, because of your corn lager comment. Yes, corn lager is something you can get excited about, though I doubt Crib is the one to do it (I thought it was just fine). My favorite lager is a corn lager (Wheatland Spring Corn Crib). That beer is so excellent.

 

Fair enough, the corn lager was more of a by-line; I should have used another example or just said Tiny Chicken... My main point, which is a point any of us could have and likely has made starting with the wage gate debacle a couple years ago now, is that Trillium just isn't what they used to be, which is a shame - they've been on a downhill trajectory and seem to be gaining speed while others are picking up the slack.

To your point - I think they should be massively promoting their IPA program which is what they pivoted to right in the early days and has been their strength all along. I think it's great from a business model perspective to add a line, have it become successful, and incorporate it (Daily Serving), but more often than not, it's the opposite and that line either dies away or should sit quietly for a small yet possibly loyal fan base (that gose program which died, and the Soak seltzer program). I don't think there's anything wrong with having a corn lager in the lineup, but focusing on your strengths like new IPAs, Permutations, etc. is what I humbly think they should be doing. Let Fox Farm market the corn lager - they're the ones known for nailing every style known to man right out of the gate...! Cheers!

 

Fox Farm is the only brewery where I get excited for lagers and sours. They nail it. If Trillium isn't producing world class IPAs (they're currently not) then I'm out.

I've been fortunate enough to be able to load up on Tree House recently, and there's definitely a big gap between the two that definitely didn't exist a few years back in my opinion.

 

Anyone have any info on whether Trill will be doing some galaxy brews this year? Hoping to see some BA top 250 classics to make some appearances.

 

They've done Congress St and Vicinity (Citra & Galaxy) fairly recently.

 

Cool. Hopefully we'll get some fort point, Headroom, etc

 

Yeah, I’ve driven by both Fox Farm and TH twice each in the past few month, and did the same. For Fox Farm, i had never been before and bought two of every can in the house and one of every bottle, and then did it again when I passed though the second time. Less so for TH considering the volume equation...and that I’ve been going there ever since it was a Tree “hut”... but still ended up with so much beer that I’m still a bit backlogged...oh, I forgot to mention I did the same except only once for OEC...!

As far as Trillium, I really can’t opine on the gulf between say, Congress Street or Melcher, and comparable Tree House beers like say Green or Haze as I haven’t had them recently, but my hope is that the quality is still there. I think other folks in this thread have mentioned they’re still solid but I think I’ll see for myself next time I’m in town. Cheers!

 

I think they were constrained by Galaxy and other hop shortages during the height of the pandemic, but sounds like that might not be as much of a problem now...but I had also heard other breweries were putting out Galaxy brews all along so I never quite got to the bottom of that one. Either way, August is usually Headroom month as I recall so...

 

this might be a helpful thread to get some of the background on galaxy hops.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/what-happened-to-galaxy.657996/

there hasn't been a shortage of galaxy hops, there has been

1. a lack of ability to select galaxy hops
2. an inconsistency in the galaxy crop due to harvesting practices
3. a stubborn grower who blends acreage to create a consistent albeit "worse" product than what individual brewers would want to select

another helpful link: https://www.brewsnews.com.au/brewerypro/australian-hop-harvest-and-hop-selection/

 

Much appreciated, very informative, I’m not keeping up as much as I’d like and this helps...cheers!

 

In Boston until tomorrow afternoon. Any noteworthy cans worth picking up at either the Fenway or Fort Point locations?

 

I guess with the overwhelming lack of responses to my question I take it that nobody drinks Trillium any longer.

 

Opinions in here have been pretty low on Trillium the last couple years. With Notch in town/lager hype and the relative ease of getting Tree House now, I think a lot less Trillium is being drank by those who frequent here these days.

You try any? Always interested to hear if things are good.

 

I think you answered your own question.

 

Honestly, it’s probably for the better. We’re the minority who go there. When it’s slammed no one there is complaining. BA’s are now the extreme minority in craft beer. Untapped is like the tee ball game you grow out of for new craft beer folks. Every schmuck I know who guzzled bud life even drinks craft beer and trillium now. But they couldn’t care less what it is. They just buy what tastes good when they feel like it. Which is totally fine! It’s normal these days.

Their core audience is the average person who enjoys craft beer but will never put that much effort into complaining about it. So in all reality, it helps to get them less negative posts and appeal. Not to mention, it’s fucking awesome that it’s no longer such a guys drink now. It’s good to see all enjoying. I think that’s a win

 

Trillium making the rounds at NYC/LI stores now. Supposedly, there will be monthly drops. I guess that’s not too surprising at this point.

 

I got in on the first NYC drop. Got one of each 8 cans. Drank 5 so far. My report:

The core non-DDH beers are still solid in my opinion. The street beers are surprisingly less hazy than what I’d associate with trillium. Kind of like a “old school New England”. With the exception of Congress which is full on haze.

Congress street is by far the best. The galaxy in it is nice. Orange, grape, melon, eucalyptus. Nicely made.

Melcher sits in the middle between Congress and summer on that haze spectrum. It’s citrusy and tropical with no dank or stank. Nicely done mosaic.

Summer street is the most “old school” or “west coast 2.0” on the spectrum. Nice display of simcoe. A touch of crystal malt.

I also has A street (the Amarillo one) recently which was in the same vein as summer street. I liked it too.

All those streets have zero hop burn and no real issues with head or carb. It seems those issues arise from some DDHs (which I don’t have) or their DIPAs.

That brings me to Vicinity. The regular “non-DDH” version. It’s flat hop burn haze all the way. Similar to the DDH vicinity I had on tap at torst. Vicinity in any form just hasn’t been great.

Launch beer was good. More of a newer school New England haze. Pale yellow, more opaque. Nice pale ale.

Not part of the nyc drop, but I also had their basic stout - underneath the secret stairs, their Pilsner, and torch lager, which all were good.

still have to try mosaic cutting tiles, riwaka fort point, and lowercase pale ale.

I think trillium is still putting out good beer. It’s seems the over the top hopped beers are the ones that are off. I know it’s a whole can of worms, but I think they went back to the old fermentation profile. At least for the core street beers. Either that or dialed in the new one.

 

Not long ago if you were going on a beer run for hops, Trillium beat out Treehouse on selection. Treehouse has over 53 different varieties just in cans today (not including the mix packs which have additional ones)

They seem content with draught and meal sales, last time I was at Fort Point I could barely wiggle close to the bar and tried for 10 mins to get a beer. Barkeep wouldn't even look my way.

Trillium seems to have moved to more of restaurant model where TH just keeps cranking out a massive slection of cans. I'm not interested in a $20 chicken sandwich or trying to wave down a bartender for a beer.

Also Trillium raised thier prices which I think is absurd given the markup built in to a $22.20/4- pack already. 'F that.

 

wow just took a look. new beer big pierpop is $24 for a 4 pack and escape plan is $26 for a 4 pack. and fort point is now $19?!?

i've generally been down on trillium for a while. every now and then i consider making a run and grabbing a few things to try but they force you to buy 4 packs of everything and i just refuse to do that there.

 

Meanwhile you can still buy a 4 pack of Green for $16. Checkmate.

 

Sums it up nicely in two responses. Agree 100%.

 

I grabbed a can of Riwaka Fort Point because that series was always their strength and the crop of Riwaka we’re seeing now is great, and it was a very enjoyable beer but:

1) It was a $7 can (I’m upstate, not NYC)

And

2) I just had Marlowe’s single-hop Riwaka IPA and it absolutely blew the fucking doors off the Fort Point.

So at the price points it’s gonna be at — $10 for the Cutting Tiles, literally eat my whole asshole — I’ll be buying beer from all their competitors and not them.

 

Same here. I've been "considering" a run to Trillium for about 2 years now. I may finally go in a couple of weeks to try a couple on draft. Maybe a 4-pack but that's it.

I used to love going 3 or 4 times a year and getting a couple cans each of everything. Tree House is a much better option with the mixed cases and cheaper prices overall. Plus Long Live is only 10 minutes away and their IPAs blow away Trillium. Not much reason to go.

 

Yes, why ever would a business want to expand? What an alien concept.

 

yeah, that should be considered a sin to want to increase and offer more jobs to people.

All breweries should just be out of small shitty warehouses and only serve overpriced mediocre pretzels and just lagers and whatever people pretend they only like to be cool. The nerve of some god damn good business owners.

 

I don’t think “they all” are trying to keep up with Treehouse. Just saying. I don’t think it’s a road race.

 

Other Half has like seven locations now and there has been zero dip in their quality whatsoever so nobody is indicting them for wanting to expand.

They’re being indicted for charging 140% what Treehouse does for beer that is about 50% as good.

 

I am not sure many people would agree that OH has not gone through issues through their expansion. While I have drank very little OH over the last year, there was a time that DDH ACE, Space Diamonds, and Mylar were a shell of their former selves.

 

Yeah SD though is probably more due to galaxy issues. As for ACE, my issues in the past with it (less so with the TDH and a brooklyn brewed ACE maybe 4 months ago or so) was, like a lot of their beers, they went hard into overripe melon. I'm not sure that was an accident or secondary to expansion rather than a choice to cater to people's desires for that profile. Granted that's entirely based on the fact that people on this board, the same to decry the move away from some dank and bitter, loved Green power b1, a very melon heavy beer (note: I was one of them, so I'm guilty!). That said I have no idea how much larger batches vs. Quality control vs availability/cost of ingredients vs water source vs trying to make a more mass appealing product all work together in decisions any of these expanding breweries make in regards to the flavor profile of their hazies.