Trapp Family Lodge Brewery

Golden Helles:
Golden in color, crisp, easy drinking beer for all occasions.. Emphasis on malt flavors with a touch of hop to finish. Moderate alcohol content of 4.8%.

Vienna Amber:
An amber lager style that has all but disappeared over the last century. This soft, delicate beer has a touch more of a sweet finish than Helles. With a slightly higher alcohol level of 5%, this lager is still very drinkable. A subtle hop finish rounds out this delicious lager. 

Dunkel Lager:
Our darkest year round beer however, looks can be deceiving. Dunkel features notes of chocolate with a full malt back bone. Contrary to its dark color, this beer finishes crisp and clean with a round hop flavor. 5.4% alcohol by volume.

Winter Lager - Seasonal:
Trosten Bier. Translates to "comfort beer" A black lager with notes of roast and smoke. Rich flavor up front that finishes smooth and clean. 5.4%ABV

Q:  What is a Microbrewery?
A:  A microbrewery is a small operation (less than 480,000 gallons of beer a year) with emphasis on quality and diversity, and with much of the product consumed on or very near the brewery itself.

Q:  Does a brewery need a lot of complicated equipment?
A:  The Trapp microbrewery has been retrofitted into a small space on the lower level of the DeliBakery. The equipment is not very complicated. The vats were either imported from Europe or custom made in the U.S.. The skill of the brewer is as important as the ingredients and the equipment

Q:  Do all microbreweries make lager?
A:  Almost all of the American microbreweries produce ale, mainly because the process is at least twice as fast, and therefore the output more than double that of lager breweries.  Lager requires lower temperatures, and longer fermentation.

Q:  What is lager made from?
A:  Most beer (the term includes both lagers and ales) is made of four essential ingredients: water, barley, hops, and yeast.  The hops and barley for Trapp Lager are imported from Europe. An effort is underway to revive their cultivation in New England, with new strains adapted to the local climate.

Q:  What's the difference between lager and ale?
A:  Technically the difference is in the yeasts used for fermentation, speed and temperature of fermentation, aging, and strength of the hops. Lager is more difficult, time consuming and expensive to produce than ale. Generally speaking, most lager is lighter, in body and alcoholic content, than ale. Some find it crispier, cleaner and more angular.

Q:  What makes Trapp Lager special?
A:  The source of the water for Trapp Lager is an artesian well on the near the brewery. That spring water has chemical qualities similar to Austrian spring water, and is considered perfect for the brewing of European style lager. In addition, Trapps Brewmaster Allen Van Anda has collected a treasury of traditional brewing know-how in his travels to small local producers in Germany and Austria.

Q: What makes our process different from others?
A: There are many things we do differently. We use high quality German barley and whole flower German hops. Common brewing process is called infusion mashing, which is hydrating the malt at one temperature to convert starch to sugar. We employ a process called decoction. This is where the malt is hydrated at a certain temperature, then slowly raised during a series of temp rises and rests. We then transfer 3/4 of the mash to the Lauter tun and boil the remaining portion of mash. Then mix this boiled portion with the rest of the mash. This creates flavor compounds that are not able to be replicated in the single infusion method. This is very difficult, time consuming, and present a wide array of variables which most brewers would rather avoid.

Q:  Will I be able to buy Trapp Lager in my local store?
A:  Plans are to eventually sell bottled Trapp Lager in small quantities, at selected outlets in New England.