Trillium Brewing Heard You Like Cans
Just last week, Trillium Brewing debuted its first canned beer, Trillikini, a session IPA brewed in collaboration with Evil Twin. Only days later, the brewery released another canned beer, this time in partnership with Other Half Brewing in New York.
It turns out those releases were foreshadowing a larger switch: Trillium announced last night it is now packaging a large part of its catalog in aluminum tallboys.
“We’ve been considering a format change for quite awhile,” cofounder JC Tetreault says. “But we’ve only been open at our Canton facility for seven months, and there a lot of things that go into putting beer into a different type of format, including quality control.”
The team has apparently figured it out, because beginning today with Congress Street IPA, all of the brewery’s “hop-forward” beers will soon come in 16-ounce cans, rather than 750 mL bottles. Congress Street four-packs hit shelves at Trillium’s Fort Point and Canton facilities today at noon. Trillium’s less hoppy and bottle-conditioned beers, like its stouts and saisons, will remain in glass bottles.
While Tetreault isn’t sure which beers will make it into cans next (Fort Point pale ale was slated for the first release, until this morning), he says Melcher Street IPA and the pale ale Launch Beer are in the queue. Check the brewery’s website for the most up-to-date list.
Trillium gets assistance from Iron Heart Canning, a mobile operation which also canned the collaboration beers last week. Tetreault says the partnership offers a great opportunity to see if cans are received well by their fans, as well as the chance to “learn and work with Iron Heart before we committed to this full-time.”
Tetreault plans to work with the New England canning company until Trillium establishes its own canning line in Canton, which he hopes will happen late this year, he says. Trillium is planning two more canning runs this week to prepare for Fourth of July weekend, and hopes to gradually increase to four canning cycles per week going forward.
The cans will only be available at Trillium’s two locations, while Tetreault and company feel out the new format. He says there’s a possibility they can push a few cases out to retail partners if everything goes smoothly. Keep an eye on Twitter for updates.
Trillium Brewing Company, 369 Congress St., Boston, 617-453-8745, 110 Shawmut Rd., Canton, 781-562-0073, trilliumbrewing.com.
