Trillium Brewing Company & The Veil Brewing Company – Adult Human

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Boston, Collaboration, Craft Beer, Massachusetts, New England, Richmond, The Veil Brewing Company, Trillium Brewing Company, Virginia

I do plan on reviewing something other than a Trillium beer sooner or later, but I only have so much time in which to “research” these reviews and honestly this is all I’ve been drinking these past few weeks.  Talk about a good problem to have.

Beer Name: Adult Human

Brewery: Trillium Brewing Company (Boston/Canton, MA) and The Veil Brewing Company (Richmond, VA)

Style: Double IPA

ABV: 8.2%

Description: Another collaboration double IPA, this one was brewed with blood oranges.  You can get the official write-up here.  Four packs were going for $20.20 though I personally took advantage of the brewery’s willingness to split them up this time around.  It’s been an expensive few weeks.

Appearance: Super cloudy, bright straw yellow body with a thin layer of yellowish/white foam that formed with the pour and quickly faded away.

Smell: Pineapple soaked in dank hop resin.

Taste: Opened with mellow tropical fruit and gradually became increasingly bitter by mid-sip whengrapefruit and orange pith began to take over.  After sitting for a minute or two, the beer took on a nice orange cream taste here as well.  The finish I found a bit raw and hot, as a combination of earthy and piney hops joined with the aforementioned grapefruit to rather assertively close out the brew.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a moderate carbonation that left me with some happy little bubbles on the end.

Hype: On the basis of being a special release alone I’ll say high, though there had also been some speculation online about when this particular collaboration would become available.  Despite this anticipation I was able to just walk in and out at Fort Point.  Go figure.

Overall: This was good, but not quite as good as the other collaborations Trillium has put out in the past few weeks.  That’s admittedly some tough company for comparison’s sake, but it seems like a fair standard in this case.  I loved this beer until about the halfway point and then I felt the finish was just a bit too harsh for my preferences.  It’s nowhere near Never & Again levels, though perhaps in a couple of days that will tone down some.  Still a solid pickup.

 

Trillium Brewing Company & Other Half Brewing Company – Two Hundred Thousand Trillion

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Boston, Brooklyn, Craft Beer, Massachusetts, New York, Other Half Brewing Company, Trillium Brewing Company

I’ve been hitting up Trillium a lot lately, but still felt the need to head on out and pick up their latest special release last Friday.  Motivating factors were these two breweries previously joined forces to create one of my top three Trillium collaboration beers and that it was an absolutely beautiful day to go for a walk when this came out.

Beer Name: Two Hundred Thousand Trillion

Brewery: Trillium Brewing Company (Boston/Canton, MA) and Other Half Brewing Company (Brooklyn, NY)

Style: Double IPA

ABV: 8.0%

Description: Another collaboration between two popular East Coast breweries, this double IPA was aged on peach, apricots, and guava.  As usual, Trillium has more of the specs here on their website.

Appearance: Golden/straw yellow colored body.  Lots of cloudy haze underneath a lively white head that was very quick to fizz away.

Smell: Mild tropical fruits followed by a rush of bitter resin.

Taste: Light to moderate fruit upfront; perhaps best described as a combination of peach, apricot, mango, and pineapple.  A light, crackery malt came through about mid sip.  The finish was bitter, slightly spicy, and featured a slightly tangy reappearance of the opening fruits.

Mouthfeel: Medium, fluffy body with perhaps just a touch more carbonation than I was expecting.

Hype:  Huge!  The release was announced on Twitter about 10 before the brewery opened.  Working downtown, I arrived about 10 minutes after opening and still got stuck with a 10-15 minute wait.  By the time I got out with my cans there was a line down the block.  Honestly, if I didn’t get there when I did I would have bailed.  As usual, the brewery staff did a great job moving people along but there were also a lot of people in line loading up on everything which slowed the process down.

Overall: I like this beer a lot.  It walked an immensely satisfying line between mellow fruit and harsh bitterness and successfully offered the best of both worlds.  This was another collaboration that came out a bit different than your typical “New England (D)IPA” and I really appreciated the variety.  Trillium and Other Half seem to work very well together.

Idle Hands Craft Ales – Kill Your Idles: Blood Orange

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Craft Beer, Idle Hands Craft Ales, Malden, Massachusetts, New England

As I have posted here before, I’ve become a fan of the Kill Your Idles series.  Imagine my excitement then when I saw they started canning these releases!

Beer Name: Kill Your Idles: Blood Orange

Brewery: Idle Hands Craft Ales (Malden, MA)

Style: Fruited Sour

ABV: 5.6%

Description: Another entry in the brewery’s rotating lineup of fruited sours, this one was brewed with blood oranges and lactose.  Cans were stamped 7/27/2017 and cost $18 per four pack of tallboys.

Appearance: Bubbly, light golden body underneath a thin white head that fizzled away fairly quickly.

Smell: Mild citrus notes paired with a light funkiness.

Taste: Opened up with a light, fruity tartness intermingled with a fairly mild hay-like funk.  This was followed by a slight increase in tart/sour orange and came to a moderately funky, Tang-y finish.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied with an above average amount of carbonation, though perhaps not quite as much as I might of thought at first sight.  Ended slightly syrupy.

Hype: I am really into this series and I get the impression that the brewers and bartenders are all big fans as well.

Overall: Another really good entry into the lineup, I found this refreshingly funky and tart.  Although I would probably rate this installment just slightly behind the other brews in the series (due to personal preference in fruits), I still really enjoyed it and am looking forward to exploring the rest of the cans.  Speaking of cans, I am excited that they made the change to this format.  The price per ounce is much better compared to previous releases and the smaller servings make me much more likely to take some of these home with me.

Trillium Brewing Company & Monkish Brewing Company – Dial Up the Seven Digits

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Boston, Collaboration, Craft Beer, Los Angeles, Massachusetts, Monkish Brewing Company, New England, Trillium Brewing Company

Unfortunately I missed out on picking up another bottle of Affogato, but all was not lost as I happened upon another unannounced collaboration release.  I’ll admit I was slightly hesitant about this after my thoughts on Trillium’s last collaboration with Monkish, but I had a good feeling about this one based on the description.

Beer Name: Dial Up the Seven Digits

Brewery: Trillium Brewing Company (Boston/Canton, MA) and Monkish Brewing Company (Los Angeles, CA)

Style: Double IPA

ABV: 8.2%

Description: A double IPA brewed with muscat grape juice, this collaboration is said to be a fusion of Trillium’s Dialed In (a beer I like very much) and Monkish’s Dial the Seven Digits (a brew with which I am unfamiliar).  You can read up on the specs here in a lot more detail.  Price was $22.20 for a four-pack of tallboys which has consistently been the high water mark for Trillium cans.

Appearance: Really cool looking body on this; super hazy with an almost glowing pale yellow color.  A thin white head formed on the pour but bubbled away pretty quickly.

Smell: Tropical fruits atop a dank pine cone bitterness.

Taste: Mellow blend of tropical fruits upfront, though I picked up mainly upon pineapple, mango, and a bit of peach.  These were followed by an assertive bitterness that was a blend of dank pine resin and earthy hops.  The grape juice came through almost at the finish, cutting into the bitterness right on the verge of it peaking, giving the beer a smoother finish than it would have had otherwise.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, a bit creamy on the end beneath a slightly more than moderate level of carbonation.

Hype:  People seemed to be a bit more excited about this release than they were for the one on Tuesday.  This time there was a small line when I arrived at the brewery, despite the short notice about the release.  There was also some dude walking down Congress Street making trades for extra cans, so there’s that to consider as well.

Overall: A very good beer and definitely one that made up for any lingering disappointment about the last collaboration between these two popular breweries.  The addition of grape juice really set this apart from your typical hazy, juicy New England DIPA and brought the beer to a really enjoyable finish.  I can’t speak to the Monkish side of this, but any fans of Trillium’s Dialed In brews should definitely give this a try if they can.  On a side note, as someone who works near Fort Point, I am a huge fan of how the last two special releases have been handled.  Minimal lines and no advanced consumer frenzy really made getting these beers so much less of a hassle.

Somerville Brewing Company (Slumbrew) – Heaven Scent

Tags

American Fresh Beer Garden, Assembly Row, Beer, Beer Review, Craft Beer, Massachusetts, New England, Slumbrew, Somerville Brewing Company

I happened to be in Assembly Row last weekend and found myself having just enough time to make a stop at Slumbrew’s American Fresh Beer Garden.  The weather was warm and clear, meaning the tent was open to allow for maximum enjoyment of a beautiful day.  I had the Little Man with me for this adventure, but this spot is family-friendly during the daytime (a great decision given the location).  I got a beer and he got to dance to MC Hammer in his stroller.  Win/win right there.  An added benefit is that he almost makes up for my photography fail.

Beer Name: Heaven Scent

Brewery: Somerville Brewing Company (Somerville, MA)

Style: Sour Ale

ABV: 5.5%

Description: Five minutes of Googling didn’t turn up any additional info on this one, so I’ll just stick with the basic description of this being a sour ale brewed with passion fruit.  Cost was $7.50 per pour.

Appearance: Orange/amber body would have looked just about like a glass of juice if not for some wisps of thin white foam across the top.

Smell: Mellow tartness with a light funk in the background.

Taste: Super fruity and juicy!  Huge passion fruit presence throughout, sweet at the beginning turning to just a hint of tartness by the finish.  Extremely subtle bit of funk in there as well, the fruit was definitely the main component of this brew.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and low in carbonation, I noted a moderate level of that syrupy feeling I tend to get with this style ale.

Hype: None that I was aware of.  Slumbrew tends to fly below the radar in terms of beer hype.

Overall: Fruity and refreshing, this was an excellent choice for drinking outside on a hot day.  I was really into how the passion fruit took over the brew.  Had I not had my hands full with taking the baby and all his gear on the train, I would have picked up cans.  Check this one out if you’re into the style.

The Alchemist – Beelzebub

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Craft Beer, New England, The Alchemist, Vermont

Yet another amazing beer I received from a friend.  These are always greatly appreciated, even more so since they don’t mess around when it comes to their beer.

Beer Name: Beelzebub

Brewery: The Alchemist

Style: American Imperial Stout

ABV: 8.0%

Description: Nothing on the website, but there is a short video of co-owner and head brewer John Kimmich talking about it here.  Worth a watch.

Appearance: Poured out thick and black with two-plus fingers of tan foam up top

Smell: Sweet, creamy malts mixed with a sappy bitterness.

Taste: A mixture of two worlds, this tasted something like the fusion of an imperial stout and a West Coast DIPA.  Lurking beneath the surface of the beer was the sweetly rich presence of dark malt upfront followed by a bit of roasted coffee and bittersweet chocolate at the end.  On top of this there was a fruity bitterness that gradually transitioned to a resinous, pine sap finish.  Combined, these two parts resulted in a slightly sweet brew that featured a rich base of dark malts underneath an assertive sticky, piney hop presence.

Mouthfeel: Creamy and on the thicker side upfront before a moderate amount of carbonation comes through on the finish.

Hype: I think it’s pretty fair to say this brewery’s offerings still come with a good deal of excitement attached?  I know I was excited to have this again.

Overall: Perhaps closer to a black IPA than an imperial stout, I’m not quite sure this beer really fits that well into any category.  It combined equally intense elements of both styles and managed to bring them together into a single cohesive, and rather delicious, beer.  I definitely recommend checking this out if you have the opportunity, but go into it with an open mind.  Someone expecting a stout might find this overly hoppy while someone looking for hop juice may not be into the malt profile.  An excellent hybrid.

Trillium Brewing Company – Stumpy Duck

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Boston, Craft Beer, Massachusetts, New England, Trillium Brewing Company

While it isn’t the Bird Series beer getting all the attention right now, this had the distinct advantage of being the one I could get without having to wait in a long line.  By no means a consolation prize, I was going to pick up some these regardless of what else the brewery had available last week.

Beer Name: Stumpy Duck

Brewery: Trillium Brewing Company (Boston, MA and Canton, MA)

Style: Pale Wheat Ale

ABV: 5.6%

Description: Part of the brewery’s Small Bird Series, this seasonal wheat ale was generously hopped with Columbus, Centennial, and Citra.  More specs are available here on the company website.  Price was $13.20 for a four pack of tall boys.

Appearance: Super hazy orangish-yellow body with half a finger of fluffy white foam

Smell: Sticky sweet tropical fruit mixed with pine sap.

Taste: Juicy tropical fruits upfront blended into a mix of wheat and crackery light malts roughly mid-sip.  I want to say there was also perhaps a hint of yeast lurking underneath as well.  The finish was a moderately bitter mix of grapefruit and a combination of piney, floral, and earthy hops.  Slight bite of hops on the very end.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with just about moderate carbonation for the style.

Hype: Nothing out of the ordinary for this brewery.  The  beer is part of a well-regarded series, but there was a different release taking up all the excitement around the time I picked this up.

Overall: Great beer to sit out on the back deck with.  Although a bit stronger than your typical session brew, the slight dip in ABV is appreciated especially since this packs all flavor of the brewery’s larger offerings.  Don’t pass this, or any of the other Small Birds, up if you see them available.

Revolution Brewing Company – Straight Jacket

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Chicago, Craft Beer, Revolution Brewing Company

I’ve had this beer hanging around for a couple of months now but could never quite find the right to time drink it.  No time like the present.

Beer Name: Straight Jacket

Brewery: Revolution Brewing Company (Chicago, IL)

Style: Barley Wine

ABV: 12.2%

Description: Another entry in the brewery’s Deep Wood series of barrel aged goodness, the description on their website promises waves of dark stone fruits, bourbon, molasses, toasted coconut, and vanilla.  If memory serves me correctly the bomber cost $18, same as the previous one.

Appearance: Coppery brown body with a quick to fade tan head that formed with the pour.

Smell: Caramel and toffee sweetness mixed with rich dark malt.

Taste: Sweet upfront, with lots of brown sugar, caramel, toffee, and dark fruit.  A hot kick of alcohol comes on towards the end, with lingering bourbon notes in the aftertaste.  Upon sitting for a few minutes the sweetness and heat both intensified and blended into each other, while more subtle notes of barrel influence came out on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Silky smooth and slightly slick medium-plus body.  Carbonation level was low.

Hype: Primarily of the personal variety.  I really liked the last beer I had from this series and picked this up hoping for a similar experience.

Overall: Deliciously sweet and bourbony, this was exactly what I was hoping for.  Despite the heat and high ABV, this one left me feeling very mellow and relaxed upon finishing it which was pretty nice as well.  I’ll be keeping an eye for more from this series for sure.

Pipeworks Brewing Company – Ninja vs. Unicorn

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Chicago, Craft Beer, Pipeworks Brewing Company

I’m just going to come right out and say it.  I was feeling indecisive in the store and bought this based on the name and artwork alone.  I think I’d heard of it in passing at some point, but it was the branding that got me.  Come to think of it, this is the second time in recent months that a Chicago brewery has lured me in this way.

Beer Name: Ninja vs. Unicorn

Brewery: Pipeworks Brewing Company (Chicago, IL)

Style: DIPA

ABV: 8.0%

Description: There wasn’t much on the official site about this release, though a few other sources have this listed an unfiltered DIPA brewed with over 5 pounds of hops per barrel.  I don’t remember exactly, but I paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $12-13 for a 4-pack of 16 oz. cans.

Appearance: Cloudy, dark straw yellow body with a thin layer of white foam on top.

Smell: Sweet, mostly tropical, fruits with a touch of resinous pine sap in the background.

Taste: Keeping in line with the smell there was a lot of fruity sweetness upfront, mainly pineapple, tangerine, and mango.  It finished with a dry, crackery malt base joining forces with mix of earthy and piney hop bitterness.  The initial sweetness lingered on through to the finish as well, culminating in a slightly hot aftertaste that lessened in intensity as the beer went on.

Mouthfeel: Fluffy, medium-plus body with pretty much the typical moderate carbonation you would expect for the style.

Hype: I was excited for this one.  Pipeworks in upping their distribution in my area so I was curious to try them out.  I also really wanted this beer to live up to the awesomeness on the label.

Overall: Definitely a quality DIPA.  I wish the finish was just a bit more tame, otherwise this would have been a smash hit for me.  Still a great beer though.  If I ever need a ninja or unicorn themed brew (which all things considered is actually pretty likely for me) I’ll be picking this up again.

Uinta Brewing- Birthday Suit 23

Tags

Beer, Beer Review, Craft Beer, Salt Lake City, Uinta Brewing

Although my wife does not drink beer, she will occasionally pick a few bottles for me.  Sometimes it’s for a gift, sometimes just to give me a nice surprise, and other times because, well, we don’t have time for me to get distracted in the beer section trying to decide on what to buy.  I’ll let you the reader decide which category this fell into.

Beer Name: Birthday Suit 23

Brewery: Uinta Brewing (Salt Lake City, UT)

Style: Sour Ale

ABV: 6.5%

Description: Brewed to commemorate the brewery’s 23rd anniversary, the bomber was dated 3/7/2016 and cost $12.49.  We got this at a random liquor store in New Hampshire a couple of months ago, so I guess this guy spent some time on the shelf.  Not particularly worried considering the style.  I couldn’t find much about this online, but the description on the bottle says the beer bares a lambic malt base and Belgian yeast character.  Raspberries intermingle adding sweet fruit aroma and au-naturale earthiness to this frisky, tart birthday ale.  

Appearance: Body was a nice golden amber color that had a slight pink tint when the light caught it just right.  Forming with the pour was a fizzy off-white head of light foam.

Smell: Sweet, tart raspberries intermingled with a hint of wild yeast.

Taste: Again, tart raspberry begins upfront and lingers right on through to the finish.  Along the way it was joined by a moderate amount of brett.  The finish was dry, with a slightly acidic, sweet aftertaste.  Not particularly notable at first, a hay-like funk slowly descends over the beer as it settles into the glass, most prominent towards the middle and finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium, syrupy body with lots of lively carbonation.

Hype: Expectations were elevated when I learned this was an anniversary brew.  I figure anyone that’s been in the game for 23 years is going to know what they’re doing and put out something good to mark the occasion.

Overall: One of the benefits of my having my wife pick out the beer is that, while she knows generally what I like, things that catch her eye are often things that I might walk right by.  She happens tfrom the raspberries and how the brett funk gradually fell over this, tucking in the fruitiness like a nice (hay) blanket.  I would recommend checking out this, or any of the subsequent anniversary releases, if you’re into this style.