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Last fall I was delighted to be given the assignment of profiling Trellis Brewing Co. (827 Logan St.), primarily because I’d heard just enough about the start-up to know that founders Kyle Jahn and Ryan Reed were planning on approaching beer and brewing from an angle that was simultaneously oblique (compared with prevailing norms) and quite traditional.
So it has been. Given that the format of a “column” openly incorporates the writer’s opinion, kindly indulge me when I say that the beers at Trellis are delicious, and just about everything associated with the brewery’s chosen method of operation testifies to the qualities that attracted many of us to “craft” brewing in the first place.
I’m too old to get excited, but Trellis is an exception. Craft beers there don’t taste like most of the others because they’re designed to be different. Read the article at issuu and learn why; meanwhile, here are 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 and Ryan Reed, aspiring craft brewers in Louisville, 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...Read more
