KALONA

If you’re a Trekkie, the name of Kalona Brewing Company’s special edition beer, brewed specifically for TrekFest 39 this weekend in Riverside, will make sense to you. For everyone else, head brewer Winson Leaton will have to explain the meaning of Trillsner Pilsner.

“The special guest this year is Terry Farrell. She was a Trill on Star Trek Deep Space Nine, hence Trillsner Pilsner,” he says.

Leaton would know; “I’m a huge Star Trek fan, I’m a huge Terry Farrell fan,” he admits. “Her spin-off was my personal favorite. I named my daughter Azri, which is a play on the name of a character that came after Terry Farrell’s character died and took her place.”

Those are some pretty good bona fides for the person charged with creating a brew specifically for TrekFest, which runs from Thursday, June 27 to Saturday, June 29. In fact, the Trillsner Pilsner is the event’s opening act; the Shipyard Beer Tent opens in Hall Park at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Also Thursday night at Hall Park, from 7-9 p.m., Kalona Brewing Co. will host a beer tasting event for the first time. Participants must be 21+ and purchase a $25 ticket, which includes a signature TrekFest beer tasting glass, samples of a wide selection of beers, and live music.

The beer itself is a German Pilsner. “It’s a nice, light, crisp, easy beer, a little dry, a little bitter,” Leaton says. “It should be really great on a hot day.”

This is the third year Kalona Brewing has created a special edition beer for the event, and as in the past, the alcohol content has been kept deliberately low, because “you don’t want people crazy,” as Leaton notes. Coming in at 5.1%, it is “easy to drink.”

Taste test

For the diligent reporter, Leaton poured a sample of the new brew to taste, and she verified that it is, in fact, easy to drink. He apologized that the glass was not the proper one; “Reporters aren’t picky, and they can’t get drunk during the workday,” she replied.

The reporter, weighing just over 100 lbs. and not having had lunch, found out that second part may not be entirely true. The interview was going very, very well.

When sniffed, the beer smells “kind of bready,” as Leaton described it. Befitting the pilsner style, it has a little effervescence.

“It’s carbonated to 2.56 volumes,” Leaton confirmed. “It’s science.”

The beverage also exhibited a beautiful amber color in the glass.

Label art

Close to 1,000 cans were bottled on Tuesday, June 18, just over a week before most of them will be imbibed. Beer aficionados will be able to find the brew predominately at TrekFest over the weekend and at Kalona Brewing Company itself, where it will also be available on tap.

Select local bars and stores may also stock a few cans, although it should be noted that its availability will be limited; “just enough” beer was produced to last the weekend.

Dated, event-specific labeling made last year’s can for Bajoran Ale highly collectible. There is no reason to believe Trillsner Pilsner won’t be just as in demand.

The blue label features a somewhat leopard-like pattern based on the Trill spots Farrell’s character had on the show. Some of the spots on the can are shaped like the state of Iowa, a reference to Farrell’s birthplace of Cedar Rapids.

Last year, TrekFest celeb Chase Masterson ate at Kalona Brewing Co. and signed one of Leaton’s cans.

“I was like a giddly little fanboy,” he admits.

His hope and dream is that Farrell might do the same.

Try Trillsner Pilsner at Kalona Brewing Company, 405 B Avenue, Kalona, and at TrekFest 39, held in Riverside June 27-29. The Shipyard Beer Tent will be open in Hall Park starting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, 4:30 p.m. Friday, and 11 a.m. Saturday. The Beer Tasting event takes place on Thursday, June 27 from 7-9 p.m. at Hall Park; tickets can be purchased by following a link from Kalona Brewing Company’s Facebook page.