Trillium Brewing Company (October 2016)

How many pours had you consumed when you made this post??? Ha ha....

 

Good commentary. The interesting thing is that while I was initially agreeing with the perspective that Trillium is becoming known as a hop factory, in the earlier days when they were just getting started, this was less the case. I think they've disproportionately increased the number of hoppy beers they brew which sometimes causes people to think they all taste the same...similar to what's been said about Tree House hops...and that there is sometimes difficulty choosing among them. Whether or not you agree, the interesting thing for me is that when I read about the list of offerings that Epic Brewing has available, I get lost in them - it's too much. Then I think how can they possible do such a great job with all these styles, which ones are the bombs, which are the ones to avoid, etc. Then I think about Allagash or other breweries that specialize in certain types of beer and I think these guys are really smart from a branding and quality perspective. Do what you do best, and do a great job at that, and that's what you'll become known for. This is not a bad thing - it's just Branding 101 from a marketing perspective. Then, toss in a high quality wild or stout, and that will be equally appreciated as they have for both Trillium and Tree House.

 

Yeah I absolutely agree. For the most part I've preferred beer I've consumer from breweries that specialize in a certain style, or maybe a just a couple. But the point of my statement wasn't about any qualitative argument. I merely just meant to point out that, whether or not you think its a good thing, Trillium is more specialized and less diverse than other breweries.

 

Hit the nail on the head. From a business perspective, I'd rather do one thing and be the best at it than do 50 things and be mediocre (and I'm not saying Trillium *only* does one thing or that Epic is mediocre).

 

This is true, but I believe the brewing process is way longer for wild ales and heavy stouts than it is for hops. And they sell through really, really fast. So they can churn out a ton of hops in the time it takes to get a Soak ready, and the Soaks sell through within an hour once they're released.

 

Especially because of how much they dry hop their hoppy beer, a non-bA stout shouldn't really take any longer. I'm sure their wild ales can take up to like a year or sometimes more to be ready though.

 

Where did they say that there would be a collab with Monkish soon?

 

yeah, I sort of chuckle at Trillium's description of being a "farmhouse brewery". Early on, sure - their flagship beer (literally called "Trillium") was a saison. now, I'm guessing 90%-95% of what they produce by volume are New England Style IPA's. Sure they make soaks now, and still have saisons and stouts, but nobody is walking out with cases of those.

 

I bet that 2017 really starts to show Trillium's range. IPA's pay the bills which allow them to expand their barrel aging program to an absurd level (have you seen some of the photo's they've posted?). Where we've had a handful of sour/funky options over the last year, they were all remnants of the Fort Point barrel program and we should be seeing a significant uptick in BA offerings very soon. Love or hate their sours & stouts, there's no doubt they'll have plenty of variety in the coming months & years.

 

teased it with instagram pictures

 

I think this is why they said farmhouse brewery in spirit, soon to be in body. They've wanted a big barrel program with more variety and they have been able to print money with their hoppy stuff in order to get there. I can't wait to see what comes out of these barrels over the next few years.

 

95% of their beers have been great. 5% I haven't gotten to yet.

I agree that I've always wondered why they moved away from the Farmhouse roots. When they first opened I actually didn't think they would do much with IPA's.

 

you know, I'm a huge Trillium guy. I love their IPA's. I'll go their today and buy some. I was at Zwanze at Trillium and loved it.

but truth be told, I've never found any of their non hoppy stuff be that outstanding or special. good beer, sure, but nothing I would (or do) go out of my way for. I've had plenty of their saisons, stouts, soaks, etc, none of them really stand out in the way their IPA's do (imo). Certainly, nothing (non hoppy) they have done comes even close to the level of a Good Morning. again, imo

 

Certainly a fair opinion, and one shared by I'm sure a few others. I have a feeling that you won't have to "go out of your way" for some of their new barrel releases next year, as the batch sizes grow and releases last the full day - or (hopefully) multiple days, similar to how HF runs since their expansion. Sure, Soaks aren't Flora, but taking into account the 7-hour round trip drive and higher bottle prices (per ounce), and I'll be looking forward to the 2017 Trillium barrel aged beers with bated breath.

 

i guess when you're good at something you continue to do it, especially if the public is demanding it.

 

Up tomorrow: Amager Bryghus collab DDH IPA, Sigtebrød!

http://www.trilliumbrewing.com/trillium-sigtebrod

 

Looks like they brewed that the week of CBC, surprising to see it come up before the Monkish collab

 

Is there some order of hyped breweries are released first? We don't even know what they brewed

 

Monkish did get into the game with belgian beers.. perhaps they didn't make an IPA together.