Brett Yeast & Helles
Evil Twin Brewing

A bright yellow, sunshiny fizz of a beer - enjoyed the sour, well balanced and refreshing.

golden, clear, slight hazy, lively foamy, spicy, peppery, funk, horse blanket, seltzer-like, heavy, oily, creamy, raw, herbs, medicinal,

 

 

 

22oz bottle, another part of a share from a bit of a while ago, and once again, I have no one I know of to 'thank' for it. Ah well.

This beer pours a clear, bright medium golden yellow colour, with a voluminous amount of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat creamy off-white head, which leaves some sparsely-strewn sudsy islet lace around the glass as it lazily recedes.

It smells of my old 'friend' Brett, right off the bat, in all his funky and cheesy, um, character, grainy and bready pale malt, some middling earthy spice, subtle tropical fruity notes, and some tenuous leafy, earthy, and grassy Euro hop bitters. The taste is more testy and funky Brett esters (I really don't feel the need to elucidate on that), some gritty and grainy pale cereal malt, some muddled exotic fruitiness, a touch of gasohol, weak wet saltine crackers, and more zingy leafy, grassy, and spicy verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is obviously overwrought in its near glass overflowing frothy nature (spoon alert, and fuck you, Evil Twin), the body a so-so middleweight, and mostly smooth, but on the other hand, mostly not, y'know? It finishes trending dry, the funk, complicit malt, and Euro hops all colluding as such.

Overall, just because yer Brettanomyces infection has been introduced to this otherwise solid lager, doesn't mean that I have to kiss ass and call it candy. Yeah, this is a decent (but touched, in a bad way) old-school lager, so no way in hell is this something that I would ever pay for, full stop.

A: Pours a hazy golden yellow color with a massive head that slowly fades down to a thick cap that leaves chunks of lacing

S: Brett funk and barnyard notes, solid maltiness, and grassy hops all stick out. The Brett has quite a hold on the nose

T: Follows the nose. Starts off with lots of Brett influence, including barnyard funk, some phenolic esters, and a general yeasty undertone. Fruity and grassy notes come through as the Brett fades a little, but the phenolics definitely leave a band-aid aftertaste. Finishes with light bitterness and lingering barnyard

M: Light-medium bodied with moderate carbonation. On the foamy side from the yeast

O: A very interesting helles with hugely dominant Brett Brux characteristics. Very easy to drink and the complexity from the yeast really keeps you coming back. Solidly experimental

 

Reviewed from notes. Poured from a 22 oz. bottle into a J. Wakefield OG teku glass.

A: When I started pouring the bottle, this was a crystal clear gold. Then I realized I didn’t start decanting soon enough and some swirls of yeasty and Bretty sediment came flowing into the glass. A couple finger's of foamy white head forms with decent retention, and the head clings to the sides of the glass. Average visible carbonation.

S: A punch of Brettanomyces earthy funk up front (from the B. brux trois). Lemon, coriander, and very mild pineapple. But the earthy, barnyard, horse blanket, musty, hay funk is the major player here. Mild cracker malts in the background, but no Helles (i.e., pilsner malt) character really. Brett dominated, and very enjoyable smell. I think I would have probably just called this a saison from the aroma.

T: Brett funk again to start - earthy and musty. Citric lemon gives it a mild dry tartness. Minerally and a very light cracker malt. No pilsner character here either, which is a plus for me. More hay and horse blanket, and a dry finish with more herbal or floral character...in fact, really bone dry at the end. I think I’m getting a light hop bitterness as well mixed with the Brett dryness.

M: A light body, good carbonation sensation, and minimal if any alcohol presence.

O: I liked this way, way better than I expected. I'm not generally a huge Helles fan, but I do love Brett in most iterations. That said, I would have guessed this would be labeled as a saison (though there's no black pepper or significant saison yeast character), and it doesn’t taste like any Helles I’ve ever had. So saying this is my favorite Helles that I've ever had is probably a little silly. But I really am enjoying this one. My only word of caution - going into this, you gotta enjoy the Brett flavors and aroma. Because that's about all there is here.

 

Big barnyard notes and muddled fruit in aroma, hint of ammonia, pepto funk.

Flavor is more fruit ester dominant, with a funky backbone and an overly bitter finish. A bit thin.

 

 

 

Aroma is a mix of grains/malts and Brett/funk. The flavor is citrus, strong bread/grains/malts, fruit, a hint of salt and a very lightly sour/funky/tart finish.

 

 

 

Not a particularly Brett forward beer which I kind of was expecting based on the name. Not particularly sour either, just a hint of that really. And we're talking about just sour for this brew, no tartness whatsoever. The aroma is fairly lacking in terms of intensity but I can kind of dig what's there. Carbonation is medium to low. Style drift is pretty large, not that there's any reason why a brewer can't stray from guidelines. Yeast character again is fairly muted.

 

 

 

 

22 ounce bottle into lager glass; no bottle dating, but is a recent release. Pours slightly hazy pale golden yellow color with a 1 finger dense and rocky white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Dense soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a large amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Incredible appearance. Aromas of big lemon, peach, pineapple, mango, melon, pear, light pepper, cracker, bread, light honey, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity yeast, pale malt, and earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big lemon, peach, pineapple, mango, melon, pear, light pepper, cracker, bread, light honey, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate herbal/spicy bitterness and light tartness on the finish; with lingering notes of lemon, peach, pineapple, mango, melon, pear, cracker, bread, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Damn nice complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity yeast, pale malt, and earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Moderate dryness from carbonation as well. Medium-high carbonation and medium body; with a very smooth, crisp, and lightly grainy/creamy mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol for 5.5%. Overall this is an excellent Brett helles lager. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity yeast, pale malt, and earthy hop flavors; very smooth, crisp, clean, and refreshing to drink. A unique take on a simple style; but the base beer underneath all of the Brett fruitiness was very true to style expectations. A very enjoyable offering.

 

 

Served in a tumbler at Ruffian.
3.5/3.75/4/4.5/4
Cloudy straw yellow. Creamy head.
True to its name, it smells yeasty. More of a lager sulfur tinge than any funk. Bit of grain sweetness.
Oh! This doesn't taste as anticipated. It's really rich and creamy. If you don't like lagers, you probably won't like this. If you are a Brett head, this might disappoint. If you're a fan of smooth, sweetish, well-balanced beer, you will like this one.

 

Sour
Weak