There have been some fun things pop up in the TTB from MadTree in the last few months.  I mean – you guys were screaming so freaking loudly that they put Dreamsicle into cans for crying out loud.  In addition the rumors are flying that Pilgrim is going to be released this year (I’ll get to that soon) – But the excitement that I feel like we need to kick this sucker off with is a new Trunk Series Beer that just peeked it’s happy face out to say hi.

Dissentience

I love Rye.  I love Rye in beers, I love it in my whiskey… I think it’s fantastic.  I was told by another brewery as they seemed to be removing all traces of the word Rye from their packaging that it just doesn’t sell – which for a Rye-Lover like me only makes a beer like this that much sweeter.

MadTree Dissentience is a new (probably the next?) member of their beloved Trunk Series of barrel aged beers.  The label has all the standard Trunk Series fare written on it:

When you scrape away the bark of a tree, you start to discover its age and character.  Ring after ring, nature reveals the kind of magnificence that only the passage of time can bring.  Savor this beer and enjoy the many layers of MadTree.

This is followed up by a quote from Bertrand Russel:

FInd more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.

As someone who prides himself as a person who enjoys intelligent dissent to my very core – I am already hooked… as someone who has a deep rooted love for Rye – it only gets better as we keep exploring the label:

Take a stroll down the road less traveled.  Aged in rye whiskey barrels, Dissentience isn’t concerned about fitting in or conforming to the masses.  Notes of vanilla, brown sugar, and rye spices blend with subtle barrel characteristics, making this beer the perfect companion for getting away.

Dear lord… yes… please.  I reached out to MadTree and while I got a confirmation that yes, this beer existed, and yes – it was part of the Trunk Series, there are not yet any set dates or plans for a release – so it looks like we might have to wait a while more.  Although, if you’re familiar with the way these things work – we’re also still at the mercy of barrels, so if all hell breaks loose, and it doesn’t turn out, we might not ever see it at all.

Getting Funky

I got a little more information out of MadTree about this one… Funk Series hints.  A label for their Chamomile Levanto popped up next to Dissentience, which brings up a couple of questions.  Are we going to see this released again?  (If you remember, this was released as part of MadTree’s first ever Funk Day bottle release back in 2016.)  The brewery was pretty open and honest with this beer and pretty much told me that of course they were going to make it again… it was “too delicous not too”.  As for the question of if we’d see it at the next Funk Day Release – there weren’t any details to share, but they “wouldn’t be surprised to see it at the next Funk Day”.

If you’re not familiar with the beer and haven’t read up on the previous Funk Series releases – you should read up… but I’ll fill you in on this one.  Chamomile Levanto is an:

Ale aged in white wine barrels with chamomile, hibiscus, and raspberries added.

The beer in inoculated with German Ale II yeast, along side the wild and wonderful Brettanomyces that so many of you funk lovers are so fond of.  In addition there is L. Delbrueckii and L. Brevis to give it that tart smack that kicks it into the sour territory.

Looks like Funk Day might be a fun one.

Pilgrim

Every time I think that everyone already knows something, I’m surprised that it’s snuck by a great deal of people and I’m sad I didn’t scream about it a little louder.   This beer is one of those cases – Pilgrim.

If you haven’t heard yet… it’s coming to cans!  I wrote first about this getting approval way back in the fall of 2015, and packaged it up with the horrible news that although they could can it… they wouldn’t be doing it that year due to production constraints.  We Pilgrim nuts all expected it to appear on shelves that next year, the fall of 2016, which if you remember was instead filled with frantic construction of the Massive brewery that we now call MadTree 2.0.

Which brings us to this fall… where things are finally starting to loosen up a little bit.  Yes, the rumors are true – Pilgrim is hitting the canning line.  The wait for cans also gave the brewery a chance to update the artwork on this one to match the new bolder, simpler labels that they are using, so I guess it’s not all for naught?

You should see these start hitting distribution in early October, though it did receive one minor change – the Walnuts (which really weren’t contributing much to the flavor of the beer) have been removed to make sure that anyone with nut allergies still would be able to enjoy this in the fall. UPDATE – You can read my tasting notes about Pilgrim, now that it’s out in cans!

Until Then…

If you can’t wait – rest assured that there is still plenty happening in the meantime.  The crowd pleasing Blood Orange Psychopathy is hitting aluminum now, and should be out to distribution next week (just in time for football season to kick off).  The brewery is cranking up produciton slowly but surely to match the unexpected demand of the new and improved taproom that 2.0 has brought with it, and 2018 is going to showcase a MadTree that I don’t think anyone could have imagined when they debuted back in 2013.

Life is good if you’re a beer drinker in Cincinnati – this I know.