I’m too old to get excited very often, but Trellis Brewing Co. (827 Logan St. in Smoketown) is a consistent exception.
The beers at Trellis don’t taste much like their brethren around town, primarily because they’re intended to be different: New Wave in the sense of clean, grain-forward beer styles, and Old School in terms of regionally-sourced malts and adjuncts, as well as traditional brewing and dispensing methods.
Read the above article at issuu (Winter 2024; Vol. 84) and learn why Trellis has its own beer ideology, to which I pledge fealty; meanwhile, here are key excerpts.
In 1517, noted Saxon beer drinker and occasional theologian Martin Luther went rummaged through his sacristy for a hammer and nails, then posted “95 Theses” on the church door in Wittenberg. Only a few centuries later, Kyle Jahn reduced the number of theses to just one, online — but it’s a doozy.
“90% of breweries have the exact same design for their brewing equipment and those designs don’t allow for processes like step mashing or decoction. Is it any wonder why most craft beer tastes the same?”
This breathtaking challenge to the established order in contemporary craft beer is as audacious as any of Luther’s propositions amid the 16th century spiritual sphere.
And…
Basic “hedonic” elements have become bizarrely under-valued in craft beer – and yes, “hedonic” refers to the prioritization of pleasure. Beer should be pleasing, right? Yet, how do we define pleasure? The culinary world offers useful parallels, among them the “Maillard reaction,” or chemical reactions to heat while cooking that produce heightened sensory experiences: complexity, flavors, aromas and colors. There’s also umami, the fifth basic taste, Japanese for “delicious savoriness.”
So, how might a brewery enhance the pleasure quotient in a glass of beer, not by reinventing brewery science, but re-emphasizing certain components to create “beermami”? The founder of Trellis already answered his own question: Through “processes like step mashing or decoction.”
Last Friday I watched from the patio as the health department approved Trellis Foods, the brewery’s new kitchen, which has been built roughly where the loading dock food truck used to be parked. Led by Chef James Andrews (formerly of Red Hog Restaurant & Butcher), the kitchen officially opens on Friday, April 10, offering an in-house, beer-driven menu to taproom habitués.
Trellis Foods will operate Monday through...Read more
