In case you have been living under a rock in Columbus, Ohio, TRiNiTY. Brewing is the new kid in town. An esteemed and much-lauded brewery out of Colorado Springs, we are very excited to have them here. We haven't made it out to any of the launch parties -- yet! We do plan to hit at least a couple over the weekend. You know, kid and work schedule bullshit that comprise our daily lives. If you make it out to one and happen to snap a pic with Saison Man himself, Captain of the Pirate Ship at TRiNiTY, load it to your favorite social media site using the tag #selfieswithSaisonMan. Because why the hell not???
So there I stood, gazing upon the TRiNiTY selection at my favorite bottle shop, having decided to make one last stop on the way home to get my kid from school. I hadn't enjoyed any of the offerings at this particular location, although I loved both the Chilly Waters and Elektrick Cucumbahh. And by "loved", I mean that I fucking crushed so hard on both of those beers, as different as they are. Both are excellent examples of their respective styles, and with such funky yet understated yeast that perfectly complemented each beer. I ended up selecting the Super Juice Solution, well, because we are avowed hopheads and love our IPAs. If you have been following us for any amount of time, you should recall that Nathan has created a deity solely to glorify hops, Hopsus.
So, this Super Juice Solution intrigues me greatly. I have enjoyed the couple of sour IPAs I have had. This one is aged on Lactobacillus delbrueckii (you might know it better as yogurt bacteria), which should lend a lovely pucker to the mouth. Insert Jamie Lee Curtis discussing her regularity here. This is a lovely pale orange color, with about a half inch of tightly laced white head. There are some yeast rafts of sediment floating throughout my portion, which is not surprising. The aroma on this is fanfuckingtastic. Floral and tropical hops (think a lot of ruby grapefruit) meld with a sharp contrast of sour apple in the nose. Drinking it, notes of peach, ruby grapefruit, passionfruit, pineapple, mango, and yes, barnyard come in to play. I expected the barnyard to lend more of an offensive flavor than I am getting from this; instead, it is faint and complementary. All of the flavors complement each other rather nicely. It is an especially juicy IPA, with no pine or bitter grapefruit to it at all. Hell, I bet this would be a killer IPA without the lacto and barnyard, but with it, it is elevated to a whole other level of interesting. The body on this is moderately thin, which doesn't surprise me, considering it is rather sessionable at 4.1% ABV. That being said, it's not nearly as thin or watery as so many session IPAs tend to be. Carbonation on this was moderately high, also about what should be expected, without being a bottle bomb.
Overall, this is rather well done. I am looking forward to trying Red Swingline, which is another sour IPA from TRiNiTY, and the entire Swingline series. As well as anything else I can get my hands on from them. Hell yes. Oh, and do yourself a favor. In case you didn't know, absolutely do NOT pour this (or any beer from TRiNiTY) into a Boston shaker pint glass. Not only will you incur the wrath of Jason, but worse, you stand to lose out on the beautiful aromas that are present in this beer (and most other beers).
4.75/5 caps
-Jennie
We enjoyed the Elektrick Cucumbahh with the guys from Zaftig last night. Zaftig makes BIG beers, but this saison was interesting. General consensus was interesting- unlike anything else on the market. The nose is not what the flavor reveals. The nose is off-putting for some (myself included), but the flavor was a fresh burst of Summertime memories with fresh, crisp cucumbers, slight esters that lent themselves perfectly to the flavor concoction that was the Elektrick Cucumbahh.That was my first TRiNiTY brew. Tonight, I delve into a half bottle of Super Juice Solution.
This has had time to warm a little while Jennie spilled her fangirl all over the blog (and I vegged out to Trailer Park Boys). A long day doing factory work deserves beer. This past week and a half has not been easy. Fucking end of month, fucking end of fiscal quarter. It's a day like this that makes me appreciative of the craft beer industry; letting me temporarily forget the sheer hell that I inflict on myself, reaping the rewards of flavor after enduring a gauntlet of mental and physical agony day in and day out. I've been looking forward to this since Jennie sent me a text that we were reviewing this tonight. Today was exceptionally rough, but not to bore you, don't ever work in a factory. Please make me that promise. I'm not yet 30, but I'm in constant pain. Learn from my mistakes.
I seem to have deterred, venting about the disdain I have for my job. I seem to be forgetting about my 'fun' job: reviewing beer in a sheer Gonzo style. Then I get sidetracked by Spotify fucking with my music selection with ads (I'm too cheap to get "Spotify Premium"). Go fuck yourself stamps.com ad, I'm trying to veg out to music.
I'm a dick. I'm an asshole, a stuck-in-my-ways douche. I poured my half into a shaker pint. I can't leave my time-tested ways of my Flying Dog glass, though. She and I have all kinds of memories together (Oh, all the brews she's released into my mouth). Judge me if you want, I'll suffer the wrath of Saison Man when I meet him. Regardless, this is what I'm doing.
This, as previously mentioned, has warmed up. It's a hazy pale orange/golden color with still some head sticking around, reminding me to drink this instead of being Dicky Fucking Betts and rambling (the WORST Allman Brothers Band song if you catch the reference, Duane-era was the best). The aroma on this is a heavenly paradise of freshly-cut grapefruit, tropical fruits and sour apple (as previously mentioned by She-Who-FanGirls). The aroma hasn't changed from Jennie's depiction of it. Time for the true test, the flavor. The initial sip is interesting. Peach, Mango, and Tropical fruits take a forefront while a weird, dank yeast flavor dances in the background. They play well together. Jennie described it as barnyard, I don't get barnyard, as much as, well.... Fuck, I can't really say (for the safety of the kids)... Working on a farm growing up, I can say it's not barnyardy. The flavors blend well with the slight puckering, phlegm-inducing sour notes that gives memories of housing on Shock Tarts and War Heads until my tongue was bleeding. This drinks smooth until the sour note kicks in, then it is almost "Chewy?" (reference to The Simpsons episode where Homer becomes a food critic and is consulting the dog for descriptions).
This is my second TRiNiTY brew, I'm looking forward to trying more. They are interesting to my palate. They are something off the radar, so-to speak, from my norm. I've done due diligence in training my taste buds to pick out malt and hops, but this is a whole other realm.
4.6/5 Caps
-Nathan-
Food pairing: I totally want to use this beer in a citrusy vinaigrette toss with some fresh spring greens.
Cheese pairing: Butterkasse
Music pairing: Frank Turner "Wanderlust" (hint)
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