“We brew Secret Stairs to highlight the unique physical connection between Summer Street and A Street, and raise a pint to The Fort Pointer; the neighborhood’s favorite protagonist!”
Glassware: Snifter.
Appearance: Black with a loosely packed head on top. It quickly forms a ring but struggles to produce any lace.
Aroma: Quite a conservative nose for Trillium – roasted malt base feeding in to notes of chocolate, caramel, coffee and cocoa with more edgy hints of floral pot pourri and vanilla essence. There’s a feature scent in there that we just can’t put our finger on…it’s either pine or something more herbal like lemongrass or fennel. Very intriguing!
Flavour: Follows on from the nose. Bold yet well tempered layers of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, lightly roasted malts and soft dark fruit sweetness. The bitterness goes up a notch midway and brings a hint of that American influence in to it. Nice and long roasty finish with some of that dryness carrying through.
Mouthfeel: Seriously smooth, light and a touch dry. 6.5% AbV – fairly nondescript. Medium body and Co2.
Overall: This stout is Trillium in a nutshell…it leaves us 80% satisfied. Apart from a few of their stand out beers we find they just fall short of being memorable most of the time. This one included. It’s a good stout but it’s nothing to write home about.