Wednesday, October 31, 2012

A Russian River & Sierra Nevada Collaboration: Brux Domesticated Wild Ale

The Brux is a collaborative brew between the Cilurzo family at Russian River and the Grossman family at Sierra Nevada.  I know the Brux is meant to be aged for years to let it develop, but I couldn't wait.  I do have one in the basement already, so maybe I will review an aged Brux in a few years.  The Brux is refermented in the bottle with Brettanomyces bruxellensis.  This belgian style "wild" yeast is what will cause it to evolve and give it different flavors over time.

The color is a very nice light golden shade that is very clean and crisp looking.  It pours with a quickly dissipating fluffy white head.  It doesn't have much smell at all, if you really stick your noise in there you can get a sweet smelling yeast, but there are obviously not any hops in the smell.

The taste is sharp, it is a bit high on the carbonation side, which works nicely with the sharp flavors.  Right now it is most like a classic belgian triple, but not too spicy, just in the mouth feel and the yeast.  There is a little bit of sourness that lingers on the back of the tongue, maybe a promise of what is to come with some aging?  Either way I really am enjoying it and I have had some trouble getting into Belgian style beers lately, so this is exciting.

Before I get to the rating let me pause for a station identification.  This month's post is brought to you by Movember.  For more information and chance to donate to the cause, go here.  As you probably know, Movember more than just a charity, it is a chance to grow a mustache, and the picture below is just a teaser of things to come.

In honor of Movember and my crafty baking skills, I give the Brux 7.5 out of 10 Mustache Cookies.  I really like it, but I have to leave some room for improvement due to aging.