Trillium Deciduous (2017 Vintage)

The Stats
Style: American Pale Wheat Ale
ABV: 8%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.29/5
- Untappd: 4.21/5
- RateBeer: 3.73/5

"We brew Deciduous to welcome the return of Autumn and to celebrate New England's changing foliage. Inspired by the dynamic New England climate, we recalibrate our recipe annually to produce a new iteration of Deciduous.

Deciduous Double India Wheat Ale presents a rich, warm, gold color. A dank nose of papaya and melon is followed by a well balanced palate of melon, fruit salad, and subtle tart citrus. Deciduous Double India Wheat Ale has a luscious medium body and creamy mouthfeel."

Pours light orange in color with a hazy body and two fingers of white head.

Aromas of overly ripe melon and mandarin orange flood the nostrils as does black pepper, mint, and other spices.

The taste yields a good amount of hop bitterness that was missing from the nose, but it is trying to make up for lost time here. Like the aroma, the spicy and herbaceous qualities of fresh mint, green tea, and black pepper tend to dominate, but they still leave plenty of room for lots of oranges, pineapple, and lemon. Powdery malts are noticeable throughout and even flex as much muscle as the hops. I wouldn't say this has an earthy or flowery taste per se, but the best adjective I can bestow upon it would be "outdoorsy". This tastes like the Fall if that makes any sense, but believe me, you'd know it if you drank it.

Mouthfeel feels much lighter than 8%, but body is still full and the flavors makes it easy to drink.

This version of Deciduous offers hop complexity, a light body, and easy drinkability. The flavor profile is just as complex as other Trillium beers, but this has the benefit of having the body of  a wheat ale to go with a great hop profile. What will next year's incarnation be? I can't wait to find out.

Rating
8.5/10

Read the review of the 2014 version!

Modern Times Fortunate Islands

The Stats
Style: American Pale Wheat Ale
ABV: 5.00%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.14/5
- RateBeer: 3.73/5

The American Pale Wheat Ale is kind of the Americanized cousin of the Hefeweizen. Obvious differences are the lack of true German characteristics and instead it is usually hopped to high hell and brewed with (as the name says) wheat. This version from Modern Times uses Citra and Amarillo hops and at 5.00%, it is also claiming to be a great session beer.

Appearance is a completely transparent light orange with no haze whatsoever. Pouring aggressively produces less than a finger of brilliant white head.

Aroma is pale wheat, lemon, and an underlying caramel sweetness. Nothing jumps out at you, but it smells nice.

Not a lot of the promised tropical fruits on the taste as I get all wheat ale on this one. It's reminiscent of a lot of commercial macro lagers, but doesn't have the skunk. In the middle of the tongue some of that lemon from the aroma tries making a comeback as does the slightest bit of a candied orange, but for me, wheat is dominating the hell out of this thing. The finish does actually have a nice kick of hop bitterness with a nice lingering flavor.

Mouthfeel is light and crisp as this would go great with a hot summer's day. Nothing unpleasant about the wheat malts and as a 5.0% light wheat ale, this is dead-on for body with no resistance going down.

Fortunate Islands may not have had all of the tropical juices I expected, but this is still an enjoyable pale wheat ale with enough hop flavors and lemon zest to make you want to grab another four-pack again and again.

Rating
7.8/10