Beer – #1,093 – 8 Wired – Brett Brux Brut
8 Wired Brett Brux Brut. A tongue twister of a beer. A combination of 3 things that I quite enjoy, IPA, Saison style things and that Champagne twist, probably. Brett Fermented Brut IPA. There seems to be no end of mash up’s of beer and at least we’ve moved on from that weird week when everyone was oh “Mix This beer and that beer and it’s amazing” to which I scoffed, and ignored as it was as silly as it sounds. Anyway, don’t let that put a brewer off and let them have it, and in this case they’ve thrown the 12 sided dice and come up with something that sounds extraordinary.
and more than a little bit fancy
This is a 500ml bottle of a beer that is 7.5% ABV and working out around that 255 calories a serve size. This is 3.8 standard drinks of a beer in NZ
All the B’s
This IPA was not only brewed with a ludicrous amount of hops but also fermented with brettanomyces bruxellensis.
The little critter that many brewers love to love turns a relatively normal beer into something vastly different, complex and rewarding.
Super dry, hoppy, funky and more than a little bit fancy.
So, What could possibly go wrong?
The aroma is of a saison, that faintly cider sour note.
It’s a rally bright yellow pour but it settles more to a orange version in the glass with a lovely fluff of head. Aroma is still that familiar saison
Well I have no idea what just went on when I took a sip. There’s a battle Royale of things, that include loudness, dullness, woodiness and a bit of a a squint. I can’t wait for the second sip.
Gorgeous in a Glass
There is IPA bitterness, a Brut softness but an underlying woody funkiness in this, yet it’s still light and engaging.
I poured the sediment, as is my want, the beer turned even more orange and cloudy but looks really juicy and like orange juice.
I know that I said it was going to be a carnival of beers, all the styles, one glass, and it is, it’s all those things, and it’s the sum of those things as well as being parts of that thing.
I like that Saison thing, I always have, this is at the higher end of where I enjoy that funkiness/woodiness that it brings with it. I really like that there’s a softer mouthfeel too, and there’s that dance of a finish that seems to be nice biter prickle but gets washed over by a dryness and stab or tartness.
All in all I think I got what I thought I was going to get.
This is by no stretch of any imagination a quaffer of a beer though, it’s not moorish and nor does it leave you with a sense that you’re missing out on something If you don’t quaff it in a hurry.
I stopped for a bit and nibbled some brie and a cracker. This is a good beer for cheese, or cheese is good for the beer, both seem compatible.
It’s quite a needy beer, it needs all your attention, you can’t just enjoy this by drinking it, you are forced and confronted with that circus of flavours that need unpicking and unpacking, and an internal quandary about if they are really good together, or if they are great together.
This isn’t by a long way the best Brett beer, the best Brut or the Best IPA I’ve had, but I’ve never had one which is all three, so it sits uncomfortably at the best one I’ve had.
The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8 of its things from the thing. It’s an over imaginative beer, and there’s no problem with that, this sits in the playbook of a brilliant brewer, and I’d be sure he’s happy at the outcome. I did enjoy it, it has all the things that I expected and things that I enjoy in all those things, and they are are fairly easy to pick apart in the drinking.
The double dip review
- Where did I get it? The local Liquorland of course.
- Am I enjoying it? I think I am, it’s hard to know, but I’m not not enjoying it.
- Would I have another? Probably not, it’s out there on the wings a bit, I’d be horrified if this didn’t end up with a fanbase though.
- Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? Yes, totally a beer to talk about, share and enjoy, this really takes a style, with a new style and another style and twists it into a new thing that works and is palatable and enjoyable, if challenging, this is an ideal sit and pontificate beer.
Music for this: I had to replace my original copy of Hunky Dory as I’d scratched it, so I’m listening to a remastered heavy vinyl version. You can listen to this outstanding album on Spotify Hunky Dory (2015 Remaster) by David Bowie
Hunky Dory is the fourth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 17 December 1971
A life just as ordinary 