Special Notes: Brewed with Barrington Coffee Roasting Company cold brew coffee, and Goodnow Farms cacao nibs.
Hops: Hop extract
Malts: Pilsner, Abbey, Turbinado Sugar
ABV: 10.0%
IBU: N/A
Availability: Columbus
@untappd says: 4.03/5
Now I’m gonna have Kid Cudi stuck in my head all day.
Have you ever had a coffee barleywine? I’ve purchased two in my life—counting this year’s Bourbon County Brand release—but Trillium Brewing Company’s Cacao Day & Night is the first one I’ve actually ever tried. It’s definitely unique, but if you can get over the fact that you’re not used to tasting coffee in a beer outside of a stout, you’ll find a really robustly flavored barleywine that’s really enjoyable to sip.
I picked this one up on my trip to Trillium’s canton location couple of weeks ago, but I lost it in the back of my fridge. Don’t you hate when that happens? Anyway, it’s from the Day & Night series of coffee barleywines that Trillium has been putting out for a minute now. However, the variants of this brew usually involve different types of coffee. The coffee used in this one comes from frequent contributor Barrington Coffee Roasting Company, but the key ingredient is the cacao nibs from Goodnow Farms. This one is wonderful on the nose, and the flavors really push through too. Like I said, it’s a little weird when coffee isn’t in a deep dark porter or stout, but I really liked this one.
Back in 2017, I visited Trillium Brewing Company’s Fort Point location for the very first time. Part of my haul that day was a 4-pack of the Free Rise saison dry-hopped with Citra. I really liked it, and reviewed it later that August, but I didn’t realize it was part of a single-hop showcase series at the time.
When I took my trip to Trillium’s Canton location last week, I saw they had the Mosaic dry-hopped version, and I had to have a couple cans. I did a little more research, and it turns out Trillium has released several versions of this beer: The original Free Rise, the aforementioned Citra, a Galaxy one, a Nelson one and a Motueka Free Rise. From what I’ve gathered through reading and tasting, they’re all pretty damn good.
Let’s talk about the Mosaic today, though. Like the Citra, this is a very delicious saison. Like Trillium’s other forays into the style, the Free Rise ignores the tradition of making these saisons a little less alcohol heavy (the style originated in France as the daily 5 liter allotment for farmhands, so it had to be lower in ABV… unless you wanted your farmhands passing out and messing up your farm). It’s got a solid punch at just under 7.5 alcohol by volume, but it retains all of the qualities that make other saisons great. It’s crisp and carbonated with that solid saison yeast flavor, and that extra Mosaic in the dry-hop really makes it quite delicious. I wish I could drink 5 liters of this every day, that’s for sure.
I’ve now tried two of these Free Rise saisons. Can’t wait to try the next kind!
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A little birdie told me there’s a kickass Pale Ale on the Windowsill today!
Have you heard of Trillium Brewing Company’s Small Bird Series of American Pale Ales? Don’t worry, no actual birds were harmed in the making of the series. They’re all named after diminutive versions of popular birds. It’s also a way for the brewery to denote that the beers in this series have a smaller ABV than their typical cans and bottles.
So why is the series named after small birds? Is there a particularly enthusiastic ornithologist in the midsts at Trillium? Not exactly. According to Trillium’s own Twitter, the series was inspired by a typo. It seems someone was trying to type “Little Brewster” (a small island in Boston Harbor), and it was autocorrected to “Little Rooster.” From that mistake arose inspiration, and the rest is history.
This one was yet another solid pale ale from Trillium. It might be small on ABV, but the Puny Partridge is big where it matters most: flavor. Mosaic and Nelson Sauvin hops provide do most of the work with the taste and aroma of the brew. Citrus and tropical fruit galore. Super refreshing! The Puny Partridge, and the rest of this series, are definitely not for the birds.
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Here at Beers on Windowsills, we never say no to coconut.
The last time I visited Trillium Brewing Company’s Fort Point location, I picked up a 4-pack of their PM Dawn. I drank three pretty quickly, but one ended up lost in the back of the fridge for a while, before I finally reviewed it back in early January. On my trip to Canton, I was lucky enough to score the Coconut PM Dawn. So happy I did!
There are two major differences between the original PM Dawn and the coconut version. First, the coffee. The original, at least the cans I got, were made with coffee from Barrington Coffee Roasting Co. OK, so that’s still technically true, but the coffee used in this can of Coconut PM Dawn is branded as Trillium Coffee. It was developed with the team from Barrington, though.
The second main difference is—you guessed it—the coconut. Toasted coconut, to be exact. Trillium does something interesting with these variants—so far they’ve canned Cacao PM Dawn, Vanilla PM Dawn and Peanut Butter PM Dawn, too—in that they lower the coffee ratio used in order to allow the other ingredients to shine. You get less coffee, and more coconut, or whatever delicious special ingredient they decide to use.
The results were pretty amazing. I loved the original, but this one blew it out of the water. It’s so sweet and coconutty! That added flavor goes perfectly with this style of stout. Especially one made by a tremendous brewery, like Trillium.
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Are you working today? I’m not, so I’m celebrating with a Trillium classic on the Windowsill!
Today is a day to celebrate the Presidents of the United States. No, not the band who sang “Lump;” the men—and, hopefully some day very soon, women—who run what I feel is one of the greatest countries in the world. I’m not going to get too deep into my politics for those of you who are just here for the beer, but let’s just say that I don’t think our current president is altogether worthy of a holiday. That doesn’t stop me from celebrating the holiday, though. Lots of good history behind the office, and hopefully a bright future!
For my Presidents Day post, I decided to go with a classic from one of the best breweries in the world—the Double Dry-Hopped Fort Point Pale Ale from Trillium Brewing Company. Both the original Fort Point and the DDH version were first brewed in 2013, and Trillium considers it to be their signature American pale ale. It’s named after their original location, the Fort Point section of Boston. It’s their “standard daily drinker.”
The hop bill is made up of Citra and Columbus hops, and the DDH version is double dry-hopped with copious amounts of extra Citra. All those extra Citra hops make for an even juicier, even more lovely pale ale. Lots of tropical fruit on the nose and tongue. This is one of the beers on which Trillium built its foundation, so it’s worthy of celebration. Pale ale perfection in a can!
How are you celebrating Presidents Day? Answer in the comments below.
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Are you doing a dry month? It’s time to end that right now!
Every time the ball drops in Times Square—once the hangover ends, anyway—people decide to change their lives for the better. Everyone gets a gym membership, picks up yoga, throws out their deep fryer or buys a bunch of self help books. We’ve all been there. Some people decide to quit drinking for a month. I haven’t been there yet though, lol. Anyway, whatever your resolution, people say they are meant to be broken. Trillium Brewing Company’s imperial stout, Resolution Break, encouraged beer drinkers to stop being so damn good, and start quenching their damn thirst.
Trillium released this beer on January 27, just 4 days before the end of most people’s dry month resolutions. Kinda mean, right? It’s no longer available, which means the glass you see on that makeshift Windowsill at Trillium’s Canton location—it’s actually the part of the door that you push to open—is probably one of the last ones poured. I got mine on February 8.
So what made the Resolution Break worthy of breaking a dry month resolution? Waffles. 500 lbs of liege-style waffles (a thicker, richer and chewier style of the Belgian specialty), which Trillium got from Burgundian Coffee & Waffles. To top it all off, Trillium threw in some of their own branded coffee, which they developed with the help of their regular local collaboration partner Barrington Coffee Roasting Co. Did I mention the lactose and vanilla, too?
Do I even have to tell you how good this beer is? It wasn’t as good as the Peanut Butter Cup, but it was pretty damn good! Here’s hoping they bring it back some day.
Head over to Instagram to check out the other Trillium brews I’ve had lately!
Trillium Brewing Company makes some pretty badass beers on their own, so I like to think they choose their collaboration partners extremely carefully. That’s why when I saw today’s brew on the available list at Trillium Canton, I knew I had to have it.
The Brimming Bin is a collaboration between Trillium and New Jersey’s Carton Brewing Company. Carton was started in 2011 by cousins Augie and Chris Carton, and is located in the Jersey Shore. They’ve been fist pumping out the good beers since then, and are known for their signature orange and white cans.
The Brimming Bin is a very interesting beer. It’s an American Wild Ale aged on both Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc grapes. It’s slightly sour, and very fizzy. Because of the grapes, I got a pretty nice white wine type flavor and dryness from it. Really pretty color, and a pretty hefty ABV for a Wild Ale! It’s brimming with flavor, crisp and refreshing too.
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It’s Friday, so let’s get wild with a wild farmhouse ale on the Windowsill!
The Lineage Wheat was the original release from Trillium Brewing Company’s Lineage series of wild saisons. I typically would name them all, but there have been so many, that I’ll be here all weekend. Back in September, I was lucky enough to pick up a few bottles of the Raspberry Lineage Wheat, though. That one was delicious. So how was the O.G. Lineage Wheat?
Well, Trillium made it. So you know the answer to that. It was awesome! Three types of malt combine with US Goldings hops to make a tart—not sour—saison that really refreshes the palate. It was super crisp and bright, a little bit white wine-ish, with a solid funky taste and a nice, dry finish. Good character added by the oak aging, too!
So far, this series is two-for-two for me. Have you had any of them? Let me know in the comments below!
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A quality brew has run aground on my Windowsill today!
If you know a little something about lighthouses, you know that New England is full of really beautiful ones. Trillium Brewing Company, always ones to puff their NE chests out and exhibit pride for this area of the country, have been honoring some of the best lighthouses in New England with a very cool series of beers named, appropriately enough, the Lighthouse Series. Thus far, there have been five of these releases: the Nauset Lighthouse, Butler Flats Lighthouse, Gay Head Lighthouse, Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse and today’s beer, the Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse. The series isn’t just designed to showcase a particular New England lighthouse, though. They also each let a specific hop do all the work.
On Saturday, when I visited Trillium’s Canton location, they had the Cape Elizabeth on tap. It’s a Juicy, Hazy IPA brewed with Citra hops. It’s actually an iteration on the Marblehead Lighthouse, which was retired, tweaked and renamed because the brewery was made aware of another beer with the same name. I can’t say enough about how good this one was. Really awesome work on these NEIPAs from Trillium. Perfect for a foggy night. Or any night, really. Or the day.
The namesake lighthouse for this delicious beer is located in Casco Bay, Maine. It was built in 1874, and is nearly 70 feet high. Might be one I have to visit one day!
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In a world where hoppy ales and oily stouts rule the roost, sometimes it’s nice to get back with a classic!
I don’t often drink pilsners, but when I do, I make sure it’s from a brewery that knows what it’s doing. My last two have been Trail Magic, from Tree House Brewing Company, and what you see on my sill today: the aptly named Pilsner, from Trillium Brewing Company.
This Pilsner is, as Trillium puts it on the official description, “the result of a continued, iterative focus on lager brewing.” What does that mean? Well, iteration means repetition, but with improvements every time. That’s how digital products—think apps, software, etc.—are released. You get the minimum viable product on the market, and then you release updates. In beer terms, this means Trillium has fine-tuned this recipe in order to try to reach pilsner perfection.
It’s brewed using mostly Pilsner Malts—with some Melanoidin and Acid Malt thrown in for good measure—and some Hallertau Magnum and Saaz hops. The extended lagering is done using the brewery’s traditional horizontal lagering tanks.
My verdict? Good spice to this lovely straw-colored brew. There’s even a little bite of hops, with a crisp finish. Solid pilsner! Tomorrow? We’ll get back to the IPAs. Shout out to Double Nickel Brewing Company for the kickass pilsner glass, and to @craftedcoaster for the awesome coaster!
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