Touch of Brett '21

Touch of Brett is, for us, the embodiment of brewing the beer you like to drink! What makes our Touch of Brett series special is that unlike most Brett beers, we use a large and healthy Brettanomyces pitch in primary fermentation, which results in more fruity notes than funky (as many people associate with Brett).

These beers gain so much complexity while aging because of the yeast. Whereas most beers ferment in just a couple of weeks with typical brewer’s yeast (Saccharomyces), Brett ferments beer incredibly slowly, and with that comes complex flavors and aromas that are hard to find anywhere else in the culinary world.

These yeast-derived flavors complement the natural qualities of malt and hops incredibly well. Brettanomyces ferments deliver some light fruity notes that help blend the yeast and hop aromas together. They also create some herbal, hay-like notes, spicy qualities like coriander, and sometimes “funky” flavors that compliment the malt character.

With that said, Brett can also be very unpredictable, sometimes causing barrels treated exactly the same way to taste dramatically different. And that’s when we go from brewers to blenders. We taste through every barrel to find the ones with fruity qualities and spicy qualities and other flavors we think will meld into the perfect beer. Knowing we won’t be adding fruits or spices to this blend, we’re particular about not letting one barrel overpower any other — while blending, we’re striving for balance

And to top it off, we get to custom pick the hop whose flavors will help accentuate some of the already-present characteristics in our beer. For Touch of Brett, we dry hop with Citra hops, known for adding notes of oranges, passionfruit and grapefruit, but also soft notes like lychee and cumquat that accentuate the tropical notes of the ferment.

Awards: Touch of Brett —Silver, GABF 2020, “Brett Beer” category

Touch of Brett —Gold, FOBAB 2020, “Wild Beer, Brett” category

Touch of Brett — Double Gold, SIP NW 2020, “Saison/Farmhouse” category

Touch of Brett: Mandarina —Bronze, GABF 2018, “Brett beer” category

Touch of Brett – Gold, GABF 2016, “Brett Beer” category

Touch of Brett: Mosaic – Bronze, GABF 2017, “Brett Beer” category

Barrels: French oak

ABV: 7.9%

Microbes: Blend of Brettanomyces

Tasting Notes: Ripe citrus, fruity esters from fermentation, delicate spice notes

Pairings: Lemon roasted chicken, aged gouda, pineapple upside down cake