Belmont, MA

True North Trinktisch Table Lager

Hoppy Boston

The flagship location of Craft Beer Cellar recently opened a huge new store in Belmont ("recent" is a relative term, my sense of time is all messed up since the pandemic). In addition to the beer store, they have a specialty food shop and their own on-site restaurant and beer hall, named Trinktisch. In addition to an array of food choices, it is no surprise that Trinktisch also has a well curated beer list. In addition to quality beers in a variety of styles from all over the world, the team at Craft Beer Cellar teamed up with True North Brewing to develop their own house beer for Trinktisch, a table lager perfect to enjoy with a variety of the options on their menu. True North Trinktisch Table Lager is brewed with pilsner malt along with German Hersbrucker and Tettnanger hops, and is fermented with Munich lager yeast. It is available on draft and in 16 oz cans.

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=25ePC8_0hSGRrKO00
True North Trinktisch Table LagerHoppy Boston

True North Trinktisch Table Lager pours pale yellow with a sold white head. The aroma features a mixture of herbal hops and light malt. The hops lead the flavor, notes of grass and earth along with a touch of bitter bite. A pale malt backbone adds hints of cereal and bread dough. Trinktisch Table Lager is light bodied and easy-drinking, not too boozy at 5.1% ABV. The finish is crisp and clean, with just a hint if malt and hops in the aftertaste. This is an excellent lager, plenty of flavor, balanced and easy to drink. Hoppy Boston score: 4.5/5.

Read full story in "NewsBreak" App
# Massachusetts# craft beer# True North# lager# Trinktisch

This is original content from NewsBreak’s Creator Program. Join today to publish and share your own content.

Comments / 0

Published by

Hoppy Boston is a website and series of social media accounts that highlights the great craft beer being produced in New England. Articles include beer reviews, brewery profiles, industry news and notes, and much more.

Boston, MA
412 followers

More from Hoppy Boston

Notch Lojko Polish Lager

When you ask a beer geek about the most important countries for lager beer the inevitable answers will be Germany and the Czech Republic. This makes sense, many of the most popular lager styles originate from regions that now fall within the borders of those two countries (regardless of what their country/principality was called when these beer styles were first developed). In reality, many of the countries in central and eastern Europe, and also many in other regions of the world, have rich traditions of brewing and enjoying lager beer styles. A great example is Poland, a country that brews the 3rd most beer in Europe, behind only Britain and Germany and ahead of more celebrated beer destinations like Belgium and The Czech Republic. While many of Poland's lager styles are directly related to similar styles from Germany, they also have their unique nuances. It's no surprise that Notch Brewing, a company that delights in introducing local beer drinkers to obscure European lager styles, has brewed a few different Polish lagers. One is Lojko, a pale lager that is triple decocted and brewed with Polish Lubelski hops. Notch Lojko Polish Lager is available on a rotating basis on draft and in 16 oz cans.

Read full story
Boston, MA

Seven Saws Echo Trail Pale Ale

Life has been especially crazy in 2022. Between my normal stuff that keeps me busy (a demanding job, home ownership and two energetic young boys), some health issues (nothing serious but my appendix deciding to rupture was a pain), some added pressures and even a few new hobbies (I'm teaching myself to play guitar), my life has been beyond crazy. Something had to give, and it should be obvious to my regular followers that I am posting less frequently on Hoppy Boston, plus spending much less time on social media. For a while I considered winding the blog down all together, but ultimately I decided that I still enjoy local beer and the community I've built through Hoppy Boston, and I want to keep it active even if I am posting less than before. I hope you all stay patient and continue to enjoy the content I produce, and hopefully life will slow down at some point I the blog pick back up.

Read full story
Boston, MA

Bunker Brewing Bock Beer

While summer, fall and winter each have beer styles that are strongly associated with the season and it's corresponding weather, spring is a little more challenging. Some of that it the drastic changes in weather, especially in New England where a typical spring feels like it shifts between freak blizzards and ninety degrees in a matter of days. One of my favorite beer styles for the spring are bock lagers, which is kind of a cheat, since it covers a number of sub-styles that are quite different. A heavy and malt-forward dopplebock could keep you warm during that freak blizzard, a paler and hoppier Maibock will quench your thirst on a summer-like afternoon, while the "standard" bock finds a nice middle ground. Bock beers typically have some roasted malt character without being a typical "dark" beer, and remain clean and easy-drinking from the extended cold fermentation. While I love these styles I guess I am in the minority, from what I've heard they don't sell very well and thus relatively few brewers tackle these styles. I try to do my part and regularly buy Bock sub-styles when I see them, including a recent purchase of Bunker Brewing Bock Beer.

Read full story
Massachusetts State

The Fall of America's Only Trappist Brewery

Earlier this week Spencer Brewing, the only Trappist brewery in the United States, announced on their Facebook page that they were ceasing brewing operations, making the difficult decision that the brewing industry was no longer viable for them. This is really disappointing news, it is never good to lose a local brewery, especially one as unique as Spencer. To be a Trappist brewery the beer needs to be produced at a Trappist monastery, using traditions that go back over 1000 years. Many of the most celebrated beers in Europe, from Orval to Westvleteren, are brewed at Trappist breweries. Needless to say, there was a huge amount of excitement amongst the local craft beer community when Spencer launched in 2013, with high hopes that a local Trappist brewery could create new classic beers. So what happened between now and then to lead to the brewery's downfall?

Read full story
1 comments
Portland, ME

Allagash Swiftly IPA

I drink beers in a whole range of styles, but my favorite style by-far is IPA. I'm a hop-head, haze bro, and every other term you can find for a lover of hop-forward beers. With that being the case, some may find it interesting that one of my all time favorite breweries is Allagash Brewing in Portland, ME. While Allagash is highly respected amongst brewers, beer geeks and many casual drinkers, the are well known for their creative ales that showcase traditional Belgian brewing techniques, with a focus on flavors imparted by expressive yeast strains balanced by malts, adjunct additions, and hops. It is not often that you would label any Allagash beers to be hop-forward. Needless to say I was intrigued when Allagash launched Swiftly, their new IPA. Allagash Swiftly IPA is brewed with Cascade, Chinook, Simcoe and Mosaic hops and is available now on draft and and in 16 oz cans.

Read full story
Winooski, VT

4 Quarters Owl at Night Robust Porter

Some people will drink any style of beer during any time of year, pounding pale lager in a blizzard and sipping imperial stout in mid-summer. I am not one of those people. While there are some beers I will drink all year long (cough*IPA*cough), I tend to drink a lot of dark beer in the winter and load up on lighter and mire refreshing beer for the warm days of summer. That means my dark beer drinking is winding down with the nicer weather moving in, so I am trying to clear the stouts and porters out of my beer fridge to make room for some saison and pale lager. It's a tough job, but somebody needs to do it. I was pleasantly surprised at how many different local porters I found this winter, and many of them have been excellent. One of the last versions I finished in my beer fridge was Owl at Night, a robust porter from 4 Quarters Brewing in Winooski, Vermont. 4 Quarters Owl at Night is available on a rotating basis on draft and in 16 oz cans.

Read full story
Massachusetts State

Schilling Rennsteig Schwarzbier

I typically hate writing negative articles, anyone who regularly reads my posts can tell that I spend lots of time talking about beers I enjoy and very rarely write about beers that are mediocre or poor. If I don't like the beer from a brewery I will just not buy it or write about it. One exception I try to make is when I can use the blog as a forum to call out a brewery/brewer/owner for bad behavior. If the last year has proven anything it's that there are too many crappy people working in beer and it's hard to stay informed about the issues with different breweries. Unfortunately, even under optimal circumstances, an occasional brewery can get lumped into something they had nothing to do with. I used a review of a collaboration beer from Threes Brewing and Schilling (that happened to be in my fridge at the time) to call out an idiotic, misinformation-heavy COVID-related twitter rant by the head of Threes Brewing. Obviously Schilling had nothing to do with this, the collaboration was brewed long before the twitter rant, and I hate to think that anything about the situation or my article reflected negatively on them. I thought an excellent solution was to follow-up with another review of an excellent beer from Schilling, this time one they brewed on their own. A perfect choice was Rennsteig, a German style schwarzbier available on a rotating basis on draft and in 16 oz cans.

Read full story
Boston, MA

Medusa Brewing Wake of the Medusa Irish Stout

Earlier this month we had St. Patrick's Day, one of the few "holidays" of the year that are not only beer-centric, but also devoted to a specific beer style. While some people might prefer Irish red, pale lager doused in green food coloring, or even whiskey, most people immediately associate St. Patty's with Irish stouts. The most popular and well known Irish stout is definately Guinness, even a devoted local beer drinker like me thoroughly enjoyed a 4 pk of Guinness draught stout earlier this month. In addition to that Guinness I've also been sampling plenty of local takes on this classic beer style. A great example is Wake of the Medusa, a dry Irish stout from Medusa Brewing Company. Medusa Brewing Wake of the Medusa is brewed with Bramling Cross hops and loads of roasted malt, and is available in the early spring on draft and in 16 oz cans.

Read full story
2 comments
Boston, MA

Jack's Abby Destination: Estonia Baltic Porter

The two beer styles that modern craft brewers have taken the most creative liberties with are clearly IPAs and stouts. Imperial stouts in particular have been subjected to every conceivable adjunct addition and aged in every type of spirit barrel you can find. Baltic Porters are kind of like the lager version of an imperial stout, with high ABVs and loads of dark roasted malts, but fewer breweries have experimented with this style. One great local exception is Jack's Abby, who brews their delicious Framinghammer Baltic porter and then makes a rotating variety of creative off-shoots with different adjuncts and barrel-aging conditions. Now Jack's Abby has branched out even further with their lagers of the world series, which highlights lagers from different countries around the globe. A recent stop on the world tour was Estonia, a country that is often credited with inventing the Baltic Porter style. For their Destination: Estonia beer Jack's Abby collaborated with Estonian brewery Pohjala on a Baltic porter brewed with rye and Lubelski Polish hops. Jack's Abby Destination: Estonia is available on a limited basis on draft and in 16 oz cans.

Read full story
Boston, MA

Frost Brewing Ponyboy IPA

How have I never reviewed a beer from Frost Brewing? I've been enjoying their beers for a while, I remember buying some of their IPAs in 750 mL bomber bottles. Frost is one of the many stellar breweries from the great state of Vermont, their brewery and taproom in Hinesburg cranks out a variety of beers with a heavy focus on New England style IPAs. In addition to their taproom you can find Frost beers out in distribution in a number of northeastern states. I knew that the beers made it down to Rhode Island because my friend Amanda (who lives in Providence) saw that my last stock-up photo included Frost Ponyboy IPA and wanted to make sure I would review the beer, she is a fan of Frost IPAs but hadn't tried this one yet. So this review is for you Amanda! Frost Ponyboy is brewed on a rotating basis and available on draft and in 16 oz cans.

Read full story
Boston, MA

Beer Thoughts and Links: February 2022

One of the biggest local beer stories of the month is a mixture of sadness and hope. Anawan Brewing spent 5 years realizing their dream, and their taproom had just been featured in a glowing profile, when a devastating fire destroyed their brewery. Naturally the craft beer community has stepped up to help them rebuild. A Go Fund Me was started, and many other local breweries have been amongst the biggest donors. Many other breweries are stepping up in other ways, donating profits from sales of existing beers of brewing a collaboration beer that will help Anawan rebuild. I know the craft beer community has been maligned over the past year, and there are absolutely problems that need to be fixed, but seeing all of these breweries step up to help out is inspiring.

Read full story
Boston, MA

Threes/Schilling Precipice Dark Lager

I really wanted this beer review to be about dark lagers, specifically about dark lagers conditioned in wood, and the subtle beauty of these beers. Unfortunately Josh Stylman, the CEO and co-founder of Threes Brewing, decided to go on a completely ill-informed rant about vaccines on Twitter today, and it would be irresponsible to write about their beer and not address it. If you are in a high level position at a business it can be dangerous to take any kind of political position on social media, especially related to divisive issues. I am sure many breweries are OK with their leadership taking clear positions on certain issues, many have been outspoken on LGBTQ+ rights or the movement for racial equality and probably don't care if their outspoken views potentially alienate clientele of certain political persuasions. Ranting against vaccine passports or mandates, and comparing them to Jim Crow or the Nazis, is an entirely different matter. I imagine that there are some parts of the country where these views would be tolerated, or even celebrated, but probably not in Brooklyn, where Threes Brewing is located. It's No surprise that the brewery quickly attempted to distant themselves from their co-owner (although they quickly deleted the Tweet, things live forever on the internet).

Read full story
Boston, MA

Barewolf Brewing Quart Order Brown Porter

I've been focusing more of my reviews on underrepresented and underappreciated beer styles, as I promised at the beginning of the year. This very much includes one of my favorite beer styles, the classic British porter. Most American versions of the style seem to be mini-stouts, nearly black in color and favoring big roasted malt flavors. I think this has been partially to blame for the drop in popularity of the porter style, many breweries instead make stouts that they can load with sweet adjuncts and/or age in bourbon barrels (not that you couldn't do the same with a bigger porter). Stout actually started as a sub-style of porter ("stout porter"), and there are quite a few other porter sub-styles that are still brewed today including robust porter (higher ABV and darker), baltic porter (brewed with lager yeast and cold conditioned), and the less common brown porter. Brown porters are kind of a mid-point between brown ale and porter, with a little more hop character than the former but lighter color than the latter. I've seen very few local examples of this sub-style, so I was excited to try Quart Order brown porter from Barewolf Brewing in Amesbury. Barewolf Quart Order is available on a rotating basis on draft and in 16 oz cans.

Read full story
Boston, MA

Beer Thoughts and Links January 2022

My 2022 got off to an extra-fun start with a ruptured appendix and a hospital stint, followed by a slow-but-steady recovery, and this put a hamper on my already slow content generation, but I have finally pieced together a better-late-than-never beer thoughts and links column for January. Please ignore the fact that I am publishing it a week into February, I'm doing my best. Regardless, here are my thoughts, plus an extra special clickbait article of the month at the end!

Read full story
Boston, MA

Stellwagen Distant Wind Porter

One of my favorite beer styles, especially during the cold months of winter, are porters. Originally brewed in London and named for it's popularity with street and river porters, this dark beer showcases roasted malts along with a noticeable dose of hops. Along with many other traditional British styles, porter was a staple of the burgeoning American craft beer scene in the 80's and 90's, but has fallen to the wayside a bit due to the obsession with the extreme flavors of IPAs, pastry/boozy stouts and sours. It feels like the tide is starting to turn, and many breweries are complementing their IPAs with more balanced beers including lager styles and dark beers like porter. I have been excited to see a number of new-to-me porters pop up on shelves this fall and winter. One great example is Distant Wind from Stellwagen Beer Company in Marshfield. Stellwagen is a perfect example of a brewery that is well known for their hoppy beers and are now branching out a bit. Stellwagen Distant Wind is available on a rotating basis on draft and in 16 oz cans.

Read full story
Boston, MA

Lamlighter Brewing Milou Dubbel

Last week I posted a ranking of the 21 best beers I reviewed in 2021 and I was a little disappointed in the style diversity in my list. I am usually pretty good about writing reviews of a wide range of beer styles, but my list ended up being about half IPAs. I am a lover of hoppy beer, I definately drink more IPA than any other beer style, but that percentage is way too high for my liking. So I am going to make a concerted effort to review a more diverse range of beer styles in 2022, with the hope that the effort will pay off when I publish my next best-of list. One style I have always enjoyed but is extremely underappreciated is the dubbel, a malty and slightly spicy staple of Belgian abbeys. A few years back I was doing a "style of the month" theme to highlight some different types of beer and I struggled to find many local dubbels to review. Even noted Belgian-style brewer Allagash recently stopped regular production of their long running dubbel. Thankfully I am starting to see a small resurgence of the style, and I've tasted a number of well made local dubbels in the last couple years. One good example in Milou, brewed by Cambridge, MA standout Lamplighter Brewing Company. Lamplighter Milou is available on a rotating basis on draft and in 16 oz cans.

Read full story
Boston, MA

The Best Beers I Reviewed in 2022

I was intending to publish this overview of the best beers I reviewed in 2021 at the beginning of the month, but then my appendix decided to rupture and put me in the hospital for a few days, followed by a slow but steady recovery. Now I am mostly back to health and ready to start a new year at Hoppy Boston. Here is list of the 21 best beers I reviewed in 2021, ranked as a countdown to my beer of the year. Astute readers might notice a few things about this years list especially compared to a similar list from last year. First, it's a little IPA heavy, which is a coincidence but something I try not to do, as much as I love IPAs I like to highlight a variety of styles. Also, it contains many to the beers I reviewed this year. This is because I wrote less this year, life is pretty busy, and Hoppy Boston took a bit of a back seat, so I focused my reviews on the best beers I had sampled. I hope to write a lot more this year (barring any new medical issues), and I hope to present a much more diverse list of beer styles at this time next year. Without further ado, here are the best beers I reviewed in 2021, let me know what you think!

Read full story
Boston, MA

Hoppy Boston Beer Thoughts/Links December 2021

Here is my final thoughts/links column for 2021, or my first of 2022 depending on how you look at it, it's been a crazy year and Hoppy Boston has taken a bit of a back seat compared to other parts of life, but I am hoping to come back strong in the new year. Thanks for everyone who continues to follow the blog here and on various social media channels, and feel free to send along any articles that you think should be highlighted in my monthly rundown.

Read full story
1 comments
Massachusetts State

Battery Steele Roving Jewel NEIPA

There might not be a more divisive sub-style of beer than "milkshake IPAs", a version of New England/hazy IPA that is brewed with lactose, a type of sugar that brewing yeast cannot ferment, so it adds noticeable sweetness to the beer. While lactose has been used in other beers, mostly milk/sweet stouts, the addition of this sugar to hoppy beer is relatively new. The reasoning makes some sense, NEIPAs tend to have some sweet qualities, either perceived sweetness from the fruity hops or actual sweetness due to residual sugars from the fermentation. Beer Geeks and brewers are heavily divided on this sub-style, many consider the beers to be a disgusting abomination, while others love them. I fall in the middle, there are some lactose infused IPAs that I've really enjoyed, and others that were a cloying mess. I usually avoid the versions with vanilla and added fruit, that is just too much sweet for me, but a subtle lactose addition can be a great complement to a fruit-forward NEIPA. One beer I recently tried which falls firmly into the later category is Roving Jewel from Battery Steele Brewing in Portland, ME. Roving Jewel is a NEIPA brewed with Citra, Galaxy, and Motueka hops, a healthy dose of oats for added body, along with a bit of lactose. It is available on a rotating basis on draft and in 16 oz cans.

Read full story

Comments / 0

Community Policy