Brettish Bulldog Old Ale

[Chadwick]

Picked up a bottle of this stuff. It's the only beer I could find that is brewed with some brett. I'm trying to get an idea of whether or not experimenting with brett is something I want to do. This, sadly, is the only brett beer I have been able to find thus far.

I haven't opened it yet. I'm letting it chill for a day and will possibly try it tomorrow evening. I'll chime in then to offer up my brett-virgin experience with this beer.

What I do know is that it apparently isn't an accurate representation of an old-ale style, which it claims to be. That's fine with me, I'm just wanting to find out what this horse blanket thing is all about. I am a bit nervous though. One review I read about it included comments where the reviewer accused the brewery as passing off an infected batch of sub-par beer as old-ale. This same reviewer claimed that prison pruno tastes better.

If anyone here has tried this yet, please chime in. Prepare me for what I will be partaking in.

EDIT: Oh, forgot to mention that I scored a single bottle of Orval too. I've heard it has a bit of brett in it as well.

 

[BigPerm]

Picked up a bottle of this stuff. It's the only beer I could find that is brewed with some brett. I'm trying to get an idea of whether or not experimenting with brett is something I want to do. This, sadly, is the only brett beer I have been able to find thus far.

I haven't opened it yet. I'm letting it chill for a day and will possibly try it tomorrow evening. I'll chime in then to offer up my brett-virgin experience with this beer.

What I do know is that it apparently isn't an accurate representation of an old-ale style, which it claims to be. That's fine with me, I'm just wanting to find out what this horse blanket thing is all about. I am a bit nervous though. One review I read about it included comments where the reviewer accused the brewery as passing off an infected batch of sub-par beer as old-ale. This same reviewer claimed that prison pruno tastes better.

If anyone here has tried this yet, please chime in. Prepare me for what I will be partaking in.

EDIT: Oh, forgot to mention that I scored a single bottle of Orval too. I've heard it has a bit of brett in it as well.

I have a bottle but I haven't had it yet. I've heard its good, but i don't know much about the brett character. That said, you'll get a better idea of a brett characteristic from orval, the older the better. Young, its crisp and effervescent with some light brett flavor. Some age brings out the hay and a little barnyard funk.

For other brett beers near you, look for Sofie/Matilda from Goose Island, anything from Anchorage. Prairie has a couple too if you can find it. If you find yourself with a free few hours, venture up to the Party Source in Newport on the Ohio River. The place is huge, and probably worth the drive.

 

[Chadwick]

Ok, I've tried Orval as a standard. It was really different from what I was expecting. Light, crisp, and sour. Not lip puckering sour, but definitely sour. I didn't get any leather or earthy notes that people sometimes use to describe it, but it wasn't bad.

With Orval being my standard now for a beer with some brett, I open and pour the Brettish Bulldog. Immediately it is clear that this is a completely different animal. The smell is very fruity and sweet. I am definitely detecting a leather-like taste in this one. It is much sweeter than Orval and is as fruity tasting as it smells. That sourness, which I am assuming is brett character, is certainly present. It is darker than Orval and has little to no head in comparison. The Orval had a very large and thick head you could cut with a knife. That isn't present in the Brettish Bulldog.

Final assessment: I don't think brett will become a thing in my home brewing. While it's interesting, I simply don't enjoy it enough to want to make anything that has this sourness thing going on.

Mission accomplished. I wanted to determine whether or not brett characteristics is something that I want to experiment with. While I understand that I have barely scratched the surface of brett influenced brewing, I feel I've seen/tasted enough to know that it isn't something for me.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Different Brett strains do different things. Orval has Brettanomyces Bruxellensis, which is the primary source of the barnyard stuff. Other Brett strains don't necessarily behave like that. I like to put Brettanomyces Clausennii into English ales (especially Old Ale) because Brett C is of English origin, and not Belgian origin. Rather than barnyard funk, it's much fruitier. Pineapple instead of sweaty saddle blanket.