Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5
Draught at Lord Hobo, Deep Ellum and Publick House, February and March 2014
Mountainous white head tops a very pale, straw yellow beer with plentiful carbonation and high clarity. Retention is very high. Immaculate presentation.
Soft fruitiness in the nose slowly lets some light hop bitterness out as the very well-attenuated pale malts give a lightly sweet balance. Pineapple and mango are mixed with grapefruit and lychee while there is no alcohol or pine resin-like burn. Very clean and crisp.
Soft texture thanks to the oat, with even a bit of chewiness to it. Wonderfully dry with only an afterthought of white bread and lightly sweet vanilla notes. Peach, mango, orange rind and plentiful lemon notes linger on the finish. Very flavorful, but at the same time mild and extremely sessionable. It’s a toss-up between this and fort point between my favorite. Both are exquisite beers and I think the lower alcohol and increased drinkability give this one the slight edge in my book, but they are both good in their own right.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Draught at Lord Hobo, 2/23/14 (among other places that I’ve had it over the last year or so).
Lightly hazy golden-orange body has a small white head atop it that shows moderate to moderately low retention.
Sweet vanilla and creamy malts in the nose are joined by light banana and pineapple esters with a touch of clove and some leafy, green hops that add fresh herbs and a touch of citrus. Medium strength of aroma. Clean, rather simplistic but enjoyable aroma.
A touch sweeter than I’d like in the flavor, though this has the same Trillium "loose, somewhat undercarbonated" feel to it that I get out of their other Belgian style beers. I understand not wanting a stiff, heavily carbonated, fizzy beer, but it seems like it could still use more in many of their kegs as this looseness on the palate isnt helping its cause either. Somewhat malt-accentuated, with sweet cream and pale sugars. Fruity esters moreso than any real dry phenols. No alcohol. Light, pleasant hoppiness to it.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Stumpy Duck from Trillium Brewing Company 12 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Draught at Lord Hobo on 2/23/14
A clear pale ale from Trillium, I almost don’t believe it (and the Pocket pigeon my friend ordered was clear too!). Deep burnished copper-orange with a firm, white head and plentiful carbonation.
A very bracing dose of hoppiness in the nose has plenty of bitter grapefruit, pine resin and some light toasted grains get in the mix. Medium to high strength of aroma but very one-sided in its citrus/pine assault (the falconers flight blend throws a few tropical fruits in the ring, but its minimal). No alcohol or flaws and no yeastiness, finally.
Again strongly bitter up front, but where the fort point and tree creeper have the soft, sweet pale malts and fluffy carbonation to balance, this has sourdough-like wheatiness and sparse, very dry pale malts in their place. Dosent balance out for me and I’m left with too much pine resin and grapefruit rind on the end. Clean, at least, but too much hop acid for my tastes. 7/4/6/3/12
32oz growler filled 6/8/15, drunk 6/11/15
Much better than the last batch, or at least, much less acidic/resinous. Still bright and hoppy, with low yeastiness (there’s a touch) and a moderately high clarity. Pretty standard Trillium pale ale with the juicy, piquant hoppiness in the nose and sparse, well-attenuated pale malts (and this adds wheat to the mix). Still a touch of blandness/yeastiness in the flavor, with a bit of table sugar-like sweetness in places, but overall, another highly drinkable, bright, playful pale ale that they do so well. Rating is for this most recent batch.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Pours hazy gold into a snifter. Bright white head with little retention recedes leaving spider lacing to coat surface. Bubblegum and tropical fruit aromas. Medium bodied with mild bubblegum upfront turing to passionfruit and pineapple before the lasting resin finish.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Pours hazy yellow into a snifter. Bright white head with medium retention recedes to skim surface. Citrus, tropical fruit and yeast aromas. Dry with astringent rye and tropical fruit upfront smoothing to mild oat before an eathy bitterness in the lasting finish.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Treecreeper from Trillium Brewing Company 12 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Draught at Deep Ellum, 2/21/14 Very hazy pour, even worse than the fort point I had. Deep golden with very light amber tints and, at least, a mountainous, very well-retained white head. Nose is similar to Fort Point, though not as expressive and a little more straightforward with the citrus. Perhaps a touch more pine in there but no alcohol. A bit of doughiness and some other strange notes (almost a hickory nut-like lime-sugariness). Medium to medium high strength of aroma. No alcohol noted. At first sip, it’s a little muddled thanks to all the sediment. The hops certainly come forward, adding plentiful dry orange rind and lots of white grapefruit bitterness. Grows more acidic on the palate until the malts take over towards the end, adding simple sugar and honey like notes. As it warms the malts continue to pour forth really sweetening things. An odd, almost bittersweet lime-like note works its way in leaving a slightly unclean feel. By the end of the glass, it’s too sweet for my taste, albeit not horribly so. Very thick texture, medium to medium-full bodied. There’s certainly a fine line between over and under producing a beer. In a very good example, this was certainly under produced (ie. it seems like it came off secondary too quickly and was just thrown in to kegs in a very rustic, unfiltered/unfined state) while the Mayflower Rye that my friend had was overproduced, being ultra clear and having a hard, almost lifeless/industrial feel to it from the over-filtration. 6/4/6/3/12 Growler filled 2/3/16 and drunk 2/7/16. Well, this certainly is different than the previous experience. Gloriously hoppy, clean fresh and stunningly drinkable. Obviously Trillium has come a long way since I last rated this. One of their more dry, crisp, yet still flavorful and hoppy pales. Always the biggest fan of their low gravity pale ales and this is no exception. Right up there with Pocket Pigeon (and I assume on par with Skimpy Sparrow, though I missed it). Rating is for this version. Draught at Fenway, 3/1/22. Yikes this smells heavily of sulfur. In the mouth it's light and fruity, but overly watery. I LOVE the small bird series and there's a certain element of wateriness or low gravity that I appreciate but this is outside of that. Just watery and washed out. Peach, lemon and pine are weak and there's a lot of particulate-like blandness with lingering pine-like bitterness. Nothing comes together here, just a mess.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Fort Point from Trillium Brewing Company 12 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
Draft at Deep Ellum on 2/14/14
Mild haziness in the deep golden body and topped by a firm, fluffy white head that shows fair retention.
Nicely hoppy in the nose, providing plentiful C-hop notes; orange, grapefruit some light mango and pineapple and pretty low on the hop resin or alcohol. Lightly sweet malts provide honey and touches of cream-of-wheat notes with a clean yeast (despite the haziness). Medium-high to high strength of aroma.
Even better in the flavor, amazingly enough. Full of fruity hoppiness and moderately bitter citrus with only a kiss of pine on the end, culminating in more tropical fruits as it warms and a balancing but quite dry pale maltiness. Soft, almost creamy mouthfeel and no hop acid burn make this a standout beer and just an all-around well-done IPA. Certainly the best these guys offer and one I’d happily drink any time. I like that the abv (while still high, objectively) is relatively low for the style. Would like to see a completely bright sample, which must be phenomenal if it’s this good with some sediment in it. 8/4/8/4/16
Bottled January 2016 and drunk 1/15/16.
Been needing to rerate this thing. Amazing stuff and this batch just as good as any of the best. Glad to see a return to form with the haziness and head retention. As well, the beer is delightfully hoppy with a perfect texture, tons of juicy fruit and citrus. Between this and the Enigma version, it’s very close for me as to which one I prefer, but regardless, both excellent beers. Score reflects this bottle.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Valley Grisette from Trillium Brewing Company 12 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
Draught at Lord Hobo 1/26/14
Very clear appearance with a staunch white head. Pale gold body.
Moderate esters in the nose provide peach, apricot and a touch of banana. Some dry, spicy hops add a touch of bitterness and there’s a little bit of an almost lactic-like creamed-wheat. Not a very strong aroma.
All the problems the Valley Buckwheat had this one lacks. It’s much "cleaner", completely free of sediment and not chewy or sweet at all. But unfortunately, it just seems very lackluster and "hard" for lack of a better term. Sharp, bitter, not overly flavorful hops are very astringent, as the malts are stark, lightly sweet and the yeast provides lightly acidic esters and phenols on the fininsh. Fresh on draft, but if I didnt know better, I’d think this thing had sat around for a month or two. Carbonation is loose leading to wateriness on the finish. More sharpness on the end.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Draught at Deep Ellum, Summer 2013
Somewhat cloudier-than-it-should be pour shows a marmalade colored body with an initially large white head that shows moderate to low retention.
Pleasant, light esters reveal banana and clove with a honey note from the malt. Sweet before the peppery phenols pick up, beginning to dry and balance the nose. But the excess sediment in solution dulls it somewhat and gives it a premature finish, with the aroma not really lingering or terribly high in strenghth. No flaws or alcohol noted, otherwise, which is very promising.
Lightly sweet malts give the lightest of pale sugar impressions while the fruity yeast and citrusy-tropical hoppiness washes over the palate. Good, true flavor, just muddled with some sediment-in-solution-dullness. Carbonation is low to moderate and could actually use a boost to really display the otherwise lighter hop aroma. And the cloudiness has to go, but those aren’t major concerns and I assume they will work that out.
deyholla (22839) reviewed Valley Grisette from Trillium Brewing Company 12 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6.5
Growler shared by Leighton at RBWG 2014, thanks! Pours a clear gold with a white head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has a lot of earthy and musty grain with a hint of flora underlying. Flavor is a bit thin with light grain and light flora as well as a touch of earthiness.