Trillium Brewing Company (July 2017)

Fantastic news on the later hours. Haven't been to Canton in a couple months and it was earlier so I didn't realize they changed

 

I got a growler full of big bird on Thursday and am drinking it now. Anyone else notice it's tasting similar to swish?

 

The rest of the Bissell lineup is like middling Homebrew with some sexy hope to push it over the top.

Swish is actually one of my favorites though. I was gifted a can of big bird and loved it. I don't see the comparison but welcome it.

 

Have you tried Nothing Gold? It's one of my favorite Maine beers - I actually prefer it aged a bit as I think it adds to the dankness...and like most, Substance, is a long time favorite - kindof like a Dale's Pale Ale, or the Heady of Maine. I wouldn't say it's off the charts in any direction in this day and age, but I just always keep going back to it because it will always be there. And doesn't here that Maine is a second home for me...!

 

Nothing Gold tasted great, but man, the batch I had was tan-ish swamp water. Glad it tasted way better than it looked!

 

Astringency can be defect or intent; Sharpness can be personal preference. Big Bird is Perceptive and raw = slight harshness. This is fine – nothing too cumbersome, nothing too overbearing: Capricious bitterness with grapefruit, mango, citrus, orange, and earthy/grass/dankness

 

Except that astringency is different from bitterness and is caused by flaws and/or ignorance in the brewing process.

Is Trill mashing grains too long or not paying attention to pH or temps throughtout the brew?

It is an off flavor. No one is causing astringency on purpose. Bitter is bitter is bitter. Astringency is a different animal.

 

Yes. Bitterness and Astringency differ, and Big Bird was not the latter: puckery. Perhaps corrugated in a way; nonetheless, timely bitterness with no (flawed) astringent characteristics.

 

Reminded me of swish but not as under carbonated. Don't see the primary hop being mosaic though.

 

Stumpy Duck reminds me of a Tree House beer, like a Julius Light or a Curiosity

 

I had a can of Big Bird the first night and thought it was amazing, slightly spicy but not too harsh. I had it on draft at the taproom yesterday and I don't know if it was just too cold for my liking or what but it smelled like curry and had a more herbal bitter note than fruity. I notice some of the extra hopped beers sometimes are a bit green and spicy when super fresh. I always seem to like their beers better as they warm up a bit too. Just my personal preference. I wonder if they used lupulin powder or some other form of hops in this beer. I'm still curious about what kind of hops are in Big Bird. Maybe they haven't quite finished it yet and are determining if it needs to be tweaked for the hopeful second batch. We shall see. In the meantime I'll be enjoying the rest of my cans.

 

I had a pour at the brewery on Saturday...right after being dumb enough to eat a spicy sausage first. As such, it pretty much tasted like nothing. Was able to have a can yesterday that was excellent yesterday. I had a Curiosity 37 first and then a Big Bird. Both were great and it was nice to have the contrast.

 

That seems to be the now age old question regarding when to drink Trillium [and other similar brewers' beers], when they're fresh from the brewery, or after a week or two. I can't recall who or when, but the founders JC and Ester chimed in once and said that one likes them green pretty much right off the line, whereas the other prefers them with a week's time on them...so if you got a four or a few fours, should be good to see how that change over a week or a few. Regardless, I bet they'll be doing the same thing and tweaking for b.2 and beyond if necessary. Cheers and Happy 4th!

 

Are any of the collab beers with other half and monkish going to be available at any location?

 

They are at other half today in cans I believe. Someone on twitter asked trillium if they were going to be available in either FP or canton and they replied "stay tuned". Sound like they will be available on tap in the near future

 

I think they may have said that in reference to the version of the triple collab that was brewed at Canton.

 

Hadn't been to Trillium in about a month...was driving by Canton when they announced draft pours of the collab so I figured why not.

Big Bird: Thought it was very good but didn't blow me away like some of their other DIPAS. Does this one not have columbus in it? I only got a small draft pour so maybe if I had a full 16oz my mind would change. Love seeing something new at Trillium though.

J Wakefield collab: Only tasted sour. No funk, no fruit either. Bummer. If this gets released in bottles I will likely pass on it.

Went home with a stillings st. growler. maybe the best it's ever tasted. Possibly my favorite of the streets.

 

They haven't said the hops in Big Bird but the bird series don't seem as Columbus based as the Streets. I don't think all have had it (Rooster?) and sometimes the others have the generic CTZ so having something Columbusish (Zeus) or the same thing but can't legally be called the same thing (Tomahawk) is close enough for a bird where a Street (& beyond FPPA Mettle etc...) Are bittered w Columbus.

 

A lot of the Untappd checkin mentioned how sour this beer is . Along with the steep price tag $11/10oz it's an easy decision. It's a shame and seems like Trillium has been battling high acidity in the majority of their sour beers. Permutation 11 with peaches gave way to a huge burn on the throat from the high acidity. 12oz was more than enough. The first batches of Soak were highly acidic as well. I haven't tried the more recent batches because of my experience with the first few.

Permutation 8 with sour cherries and Red Broken Angel had a nice acid profile and were not overbearing.

Their "New England Culture" has been all over the map in terms of acidity and outcome of the final product.

Would love to see a tamed acidity and finesse in future offerings.