a tale of three beers

By Matt Schreiner in Beer, Lounge on Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016

Hey all. Had three fantastic beers recently (and a lot of good or average ones as well). Two of them were East Coast newbies for me and the third was the return of a Midwest beer, under a new name, and also one of my top five favorite beers.

1. I got three different beers from Trillium from a new trading partner out of Connecticut. Haven’t drank the FREE RISE saison yet, and SCALED didn’t do much for me, but VICINITY was freaking insane. Cloudiest IPA I have ever had. It had very healthy foam and lacing, but it was so cloudy I couldn’t tell if there was any carbonation. Of course, I didn’t give a rat’s hindquarters, because I so rarely get to try beers like this. It presents with a big bitter hop nose which follows through on the taste. There was a slight citrus flavor and malt notes underneath everything, but the overall feel was light for a DIPA. The alcohol was very well disguised, and that helps make it feel very well balanced. Midwest beer folks, I have to tell you you should find a friend out East who could help you this one.
2. But if you can get your butt to BJ’s in Oswego, keep an eye out for the next time Maine Beer Company LUNCH comes back around and you won’t have to pay for postage. Had a two week old bottle of it about two hours after picking it up on Monday. I couldn’t wait, as I’ve been wanting to try this one for almost as long as I’ve been into craft beer. I like the idea of an East Coast brewery doing a West Coast style. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and at first taste, I thought “Is THAT all there is?” But once I started getting used to it and met it on its own terms, it really impressed me. It was a very good looking beer, golden orange with healthy foam/lacing and an amazing amount or particulates for an IPA (at least in my limited experience). It had a strong and well balanced hop and malt smell with a mild funk behind it. The malt was more forward on the taste than the hops, which presented as a bitter background. It was very refreshing and tasty, and if I can get more of it, I will. I am dying to try DINNER even more now, if it’s anywhere near as good as this.
3. We’re now at the returning local favorite: EMERALD GROUPER, aka SQUARE GROUPER renamed. I’ve had this on the previous two releases. The second time, it seemed to disappoint me. The first time, I gave it a five star review. This time was more like the first. It was the cloudiest Midwestern DIPA I’ve ever had, almost like an East Coast style. There wasn’t strong foam to it, and like the VICINITY, I couldn’t tell if there was carbonation due to the cloudiness, but the lacing was pretty healthy. The nose is super strongly bitter-it’s one of those beers that I don’t have to ask my wife to drink to know she wouldn’t like-she smelled it, made a completely disgusted face, and handed the glass back to me. When that happens, I figure there’s a 75 percent chance or more that I’m going to love the beer. The bitter hop scent is accompanied by sweetness from the honey, and both the hops and sweetness present themselves strongly on the taste, backed up by slight bitterness. Absolutely one of the best tasting beers I’ve ever had. For a DIPA with honey, I’d say it’s as good as HOPSLAM.

Anyways, just some thoughts that I wanted to share. Thanks all. Going to get back to my FOUNDERS DEVIL DANCER before turning in.

Cheers!