Review: Brettanomyces Pale Ale

100% Brettanomyces Galaxy Citra Pale Ale

Appearance(A/B): Brown-Golden, not as bright as I would have hoped. The active carbonation shows itself in the glass, and the cool temp creates a haze almost immediately. Impressive mousse like head and lacing remain in the glass.

Aroma(A): Tropical Fruit! This is the high point of this beer. The aroma is potent and lingering. The scents are truly remarkable. The next morning after drinking a glass my kitchen area still smelled like tropical fruit.

Flavor(C): Slightly disappointing. As you'd imagine in a pale ale, there isn't that delicious and inescapable hop flavor. The grain is more forward and the Brettanomyces Clustersianus doesn't quite bring out the same flavors as Wyeast 1056.

Mouthfeel(A/B): Carbonated, smooth, not biting.

Overall(B/C): If it had just tasted more like how it had smelled. I regret not using higher quality base malts. I believe for this brew I didn't use Briess organic. It was good, and if I can get this tropical flavored brettanomyces strain reliably I will continue to use it.

Brettanomyces Clusterianus ECY19 (East Coast Yeast):
This is a hit. The Brett adds so much to the aroma. Normally when I am making hoppy brews they smell and taste good, but they never smell this good. The aroma of this beer is strong and lingering and for a 30-40 IBU pale ale it really delivers in the nose. The beer fermented out reasonably well, perhaps a bit too dry but that's not a fault in an APA necessarily. The relatively small bittering addition comes through here, and while I like bitter, a novice wouldn't be as impressed as I am. The brettanomyces also plays up the grain in a big way leaving a husky grain flavor left after fermentation. Again it's not bad. But the little faults start to add up and show my inexperience with the strain.