With descriptors that range from "faecal funk" to "unparalleled complexity", Brettanomyces is surely one of the most divisive characteristics found in beer. Whatever your own thoughts about what this mysterious yeast brings to the glass, you can't say it's not interesting!
Indeed, the folk at Slow Lane are so fascinated* that they're dedicating a whole event to it: Brettanomyces Appreciation Day.
On March 25 – to coincide with International Orval Day, a day celebrating that most famous of Brett beers – Slow Lane will be serving 20 different beers, on tap and in cans, all produced with the aid of Brettanomyces. These include kegs of some early cellared releases, namely Old Russet Barrel Aged Belgian Sour Brown Ale, Outback Sky Barrel Aged Red Sour and Monument Barrel Aged Black Sour.
And because it seems like a perfect chance to pay homage to the OG of the movement, they'll have bottles of Orval on offer too.
It's a free event, tailor-made for the curious, and the Slow Lane brewers will be lingering around for the day to answer any questions you have about exactly what it is you're drinking and why it tastes like it does.
*For the record, the Slow Lane brewers are into the fruity esters that Brettanomyces can bring, rather than the more intense phenolic flavours, so that's the general direction they're leaning.
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