Trinity Brewing October 2019 Visit

October 28, 2019 Mike

We made it back to Trinity! I’m not sure why, but in our brewery visits around Colorado Springs, we seem to keep forgetting about Trinity. I don’t really pass by it too much in my day to day travels, and for some reason don’t see the facebook updates too frequently, so it just doesn’t jump into the forefront of my thoughts very often.

Luckily, I had reason to travel to the Garden of the Gods area, and passed right by it, and it was fresh in my head when it was time to select where we were going this week.

We had quite the turnout this week too, Bill, who’s become a frequent member of our beer tasting cohort, came along, and so did our friend Scott. Scott’s cousin was visiting from St. Louis and he decided to come along as well. Then to top it all off, the elusive Jerry came out, and brought our friend Dave with him. The 7 of us pushed a couple of tables together, and had a merry old time.

Hopefully I don’t overuse the word Rustic

Jesse and I were both using our Colorado Springs On Tap Craft Brewery Passport, which got me almost all of their saisons, and I ordered a taster of the final one so that I could have a clean sweep. Well, I came to a realization this trip, as I was tasting the many saisons.

You see, I was a little bewildered by them at first, very under carbonated, and not quite the flavors I was expecting, when I realized, this is probably the exact way that farmhouse ales tasted, and were consumed, originally. These days we’re kind of spoiled with good temperature control, which pushes the flavors I’m used to out of our commercially selected and nurtured yeasts, and we have a handy supply of bottles and force carbonation mechanisms. These are the rustic examples that we probably would be used to if they were a mainstay of our culture.

In the picture above, the 5 beers closest to the camera were mine, and the two on the left were very distinctive (Elektrick Cukumbahh on top and Velvet Ear on the bottom), but the three on the right all tasted so similar, that I couldn’t really pick out much of a difference. Great rustic saisons one and all, just no flavors that stood out to me. Maybe I should approach Saisons one at a time in the future? Maybe I need to get my palate into shape? We’ll need to get back and do some more research.

But fear not brave beer adventurer, Trinity has a huge tap list. That clipboard on the table has a full page of entries for the taps, and then there’s more choices available in bottles. If you’re not sure if rustic saisons are your thing, there’s still plenty of other beverages to choose from.

Onto the beer!

Elektrick Cukumbahh (Saison) – 6.4% ABV – This “harvest saison” is brewed with Cucumbers, lemon Zest and grains of paradise. The cucumber flavor is really nice, light lemon flavors, and the finish almost tasted of lime. It’s as clear as you could want, and doesn’t drink like it’s 6.4%. Like all of my saisons tonight, not very carbonated.

Velvet Ear – Dry Hopped Saison with Brett – 6.4% ABV – Very light, brilliantly clear. The brett flavors really stand out in this one, but they aren’t overpowering, which is impressive considering how light the beer is. It has a slightly funky flavor, although I didn’t really pick any particular flavors out of it. I really enjoyed drinking it, and again, would never have guessed it was 6.4%.

Table b(ear) – ‘Savoir-Faire little beer – 4.1% – Really like, super clear, and definitely a farmhouse ale.

Grains of Color – Saison Grisette brewed with Buckwheat – 4.1% – I thought this one might have had a bit more body to it that Table b(ear), but very similar in flavor, and slightly darker in color.

Sun n’ Dandy – Spring Harvest Saison with Dandelion Greens and Toasted Sunflower Seeds – 6% – I didn’t get much in the way of different flavors than the previous two had, but still tasty and light.

[Jesse] This was only my second visit to Trinity and I see now how this brewery seems to be a go to place for a lot of people. As is our custom during these trips we “pass the glass” and have samples of some of the beer that others order and, I have to say, I don’t think there was one other beer that I sampled where I thought “Boy, I’m glad I didn’t order that. Heck, even the Black Cherry Seltzer I had was delicious.

As Mike mentioned, we used the Craft Brewery Passport for a free flight. We’ve found that the number of tasters in the flight that each brewery offers differs; typically, it’s four or five. At Trinity, four is the magic number, but their taster sizes are very generous so the Passport continues to be a stellar deal. For this trip I decided to stick to the flight of four.

Jesse’s Flight
Clockwise from Lower Left – Honey Sour, Mob Barley, One Ear, Soul Horkey

Honey Sour – 5.4% ABV – According to the menu this is a braggot blended with a 4 year old barrel aged beer and Black Forest honey. The honey is present, but not overpowering. It is sour as well, but not very, just a nice sourness that keeps the sweetness of the honey in check. I would get a pint of this anytime.

Mob Barley – 11% ABV – I’m clearly on a barleywine kick and when I saw this one on the tap list, I couldn’t not get it, of course. Quite a good barleywine. It had a lighter mouthfeel that some of the barleywines I’ve had in the past, but not even close to be being “light”. It had a really great sweetness with a mild licorice finish. There was also a mild harsh finish/after taste – maybe it was some hops I was picking up? Quite good and warming.

One Ear – 6.4% ABV – Just to prove how little I have been to Trinity, I’ll admit that this was the first time I’ve had One Ear. I was expecting this to be a “typical” saison and was taken aback when it really wasn’t. But Mike pointed out to me – what he mentioned above – that this is likely more of a traditional farmhouse ale and not a “true to BJCP style” saison. Rather than trying to fit it into a style, I thought I’d just get on with enjoying the beer, which I did quite a bit. I see why it’s a popular flagship. It’s nicely carbonated, light and easy to drink and well balanced.

Soul Horkey – 5.5% ABV – Billed simply as a “Malty and sessionable ale”, it fits the description. If someone had just given me this beer and told me to try it, I would have guessed that it was a traditional festbier or Marzen. Malty, sweet and light.

Full list of beers we’ve reviewed at Trinity: