The Wheaty Brewing Corps don't just collaborate with other brewers; here, they turned to a business that specialises in a very different type of fermentation: sourdough bread. Along with the Wheaty’s mixed culture yeast, 60kg of Small World Bakery’s rye sourdough was sliced, toasted and thrown into the top of the mash to create a Kvass. It's a style best known in Russia, where old stale bread was wild fermented with sugar to create a sour, very low ABV ale. The Wheaty’s clocks in at 4.8 percent ABV and tastes just like sourdough in a glass.
Burnt orange (or well toasted toast) in colour, the Kvass pours clear. Naturally, a bready aroma shines through, alongside some caramel, raisins, a touch of vinegar tartness and even a smidgen of vanilla. The taste buds get a tickle on the first sip, with a decent sourness ringing through all the way through to the back palate. The bready flavours come out from hiding momentarily, with a touch of fruitiness also making a fleeting appearance, before the sour power comes through strong.
Matt King
Published July 20, 2019 2019-07-20 00:00:00