Drink This Now: IwanttoBU by Trillium Brewing Company
When you sip an IPA, a heap of adjectives might hit the tongue: fruity, tropical, piney—the list goes on. But most can agree, bitterness is unavoidable when hops are involved.
Trillium Brewing Company sought to defy that rule with their new beer called IwanttoBU, brewed in collaboration with the Veil Brewing Company in Virginia. This double IPA has 0 IBUs, or, no calculated bitterness. That means this 8 percent ABV beer goes down like fruit juice.
IBUs, or international bittering units, are a helpful scale when figuring out how much bite a beer has. Most lighter ales and lagers sit below 45 IBUs, while more intense imperial IPAs can soar past 100. Most beers don’t venture past 120 IBUs, since the human tongue can only register so much beyond that, but a few breweries have tried anyway.
The IBU scale is largely subjective between drinkers, but it’s a helpful benchmark for brewers to market the hoppiness—or lack thereof—of their beers. Here’s a more in-depth guide if you want to dive in.
IwanttoBU was born when Trillium cofounder JC Tetreault met with the Veil owner Matt Tarpey in Virginia. Both brewers were participating in the first-ever Forever Summer Festival in August, a celebration of hoppy beer hosted by Tarpey’s brewery. Before long, the two were brainstorming ways to riff on a previous Veil release.
“IwanttoBU blends Trillium’s techniques and house character, with the Veil’s unique brewing style to create an incredibly flavorful and aromatic hop-forward beer,” Trillium shares on its website.
The brewery describes the end product as having flavors of citrus and lemongrass, with aromas of pine and plum, and a slight malty backbone. Does this beer truly have no bitterness? You’ll have to pick up a few and judge for yourself.
The beer runs about $20 per four-pack at Trillium’s two locations. Calls to both sites confirm that 16-ounce cans are selling fast, but should be available going into the weekend. The Canton site expects it to be on draft in the tasting room through the weekend, too.
While you’re grabbing a case (or snifter), you can also pick up another collab beer with Evil Twin Brewing, an IPA called Board Shorts. The beer is billed as a grown-up version of the Trillkini session IPA the two breweries made in June.
Trillium Brewing Company, 369 Congress St., Boston, 617-453-8745, 110 Shawmut Rd., Canton, 781-562-0073, trilliumbrewing.com.
