Lots of good things come in three: Musketeers; Stooges; ‘s Company.  And while I’ve never pretended to be a camp, 1970s homosexual in order to maintain a living situation (it just comes naturally), and I think that candy bar dollars spent on feather-light nougat are better spent on peanut-studded logs of caramel, I do have a soft spot in my heart (and at the crown of my skull) for slapstick.

As you are no doubt aware, ABC airs new episodes of America’s Funniest Home Videos on Sunday nights at 7pm, an hour when the weight of the week is beginning to creep back off the floor onto your back, ready to crush you back into a hat and feet before Friday rolls around again. During this hour, Good Sense goes, maybe, on a holiday not unlike the one we’ve taken, meandering among the hills of New England, sampling beer at every stop, pointing out all the Great Dogs along the way.

In its absence, of course, Slapstick takes over, delivering rakes into faces, baseballs into coglioni, and hundreds of ping pong balls into the cupboard.  There is, I would argue, no hour of television so diverting, so therapeutic, so perfectly-suited to restoring vigor to an impoverished spirit as an episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Of course, in the case that it’s not Sunday night at 7pm, beer will do just fine.

The Atmosphere

Trinity Brewhouse is cool in-and-out.  The hand-painted signs outside lead to a whole lot of interesting dark-bar decor inside, including, if I’m not mistaken, a T-Rex.  We were there at the end of a rather long day of driving-in-the-rain, though, so it’s possible that the dinosaur was, in fact, a short-armed barfly.  The bartender and normal-armed patrons were all as friendly as you’d want.

The Food

We didn’t eat anything, although we did take a peek at a menu, which looked like typical brewpub fare.  The plate of nachos we saw down the bar looked pretty killer, though.

The Beer

Trinity’s sampler comes with six tastes.  They had eight on tap, and we skipped the saison and the Kristallweizen.

The Kolsch was grainy, with sweet malt and some fruity esters on the finish, which was crisp and otherwise-clean.

The Hefeweizen was a standout, with huge bubblegum and banana flavors, and just a touch of phenol on the finish.  Outstanding flavor and mouthfeel profile, on-par with German offerings in the style.  This one felt super-fresh, and was, doubtless, the best hefe I’ve had from a US brewpub.

The RI IPA gave off aromas of soap and citrus, with a good, balanced mouthful of malt and bitter hops. The finish was a little sweet, with some fruity hops lingering.

Tommy’s Red Ale was all fruity esters and sweet malt, maybe a little bit of tartness and toasty grain, and just a little bit of hop bite on the finish.  A well-balanced ale that will please lots of people.

The Cascadian Dark Ale was fantastically fresh, an enormous noseful of citrus and pine leading way to some smooth chocolate roast and hop bitterness, with a lingering bitterness and pine flavor (along with something we decided was a bit like fennel; not unpleasant, in this case).

Finally, Larkin’s Irish Stout was nice and dry, with a surprisingly-complex combination of chocolate, coffee, and dark-roasted malt leading way to a crisp, dry finish.

Overall

I wish we’d had more time to spend at Trinity (and more room to try the food and beers).  It’s a nice, chilled-out place to drink that has one of the nicest hefes I’ve ever tasted.  Plus, it’s near to some pretty classy digs, in case you need a place to stay when your pencil mustache washes off and Mr. Roper won’t let you back in the apartment.