Mixed MAD FOR fermentation
In the early 1990s, revered beer scribe Michael Jackson mused on the potential extinction of the saison style while describing certain Belgian breweries’ iterations as “slightly sour” or “tart.” Today, the style is one of the fastest growing in craft beer, and a new generation of brewers is embracing Brettanomyces, Pediococcus, and the lactic acid-producing bacteria that create the tart and sour acidity in the style. But brewing with these “bugs” presents its own challenges, as brewers from Jester King Brewery, Two Roads Brewing Co., Almanac Beer Company, and more, explain.
TRENDING NOW ARE SOUR
and funky beers, many of which are created by mixed fermentations of yeast and bacteria to replicate flavors associated with traditional farmhouse ales. To create these complex, nuanced, and often unexpected beers, craft brewers are fermenting beers with Brettanomyces and bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Pediococcus, among other microbes. Some are are even fermenting their beers with naturally occurring airborne yeasts and bacteria that they capture from the air.
Brett, Lacto, Pedio
The most common yeast-bacteria cocktail used in sour and funky beer-making is the Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus trifecta. Brettanomyces, or Brett, is a yeast strain that ferments more slowly than standard Saccharomyces. Brett has many different strains that yield a cornucopia of flavors and aromas, most notably barnyard funk and horse blanket. Brett creates earthy, fruit, and floral characters in beers as well. Lactobacillus and Pediococcus are bacteria that consume sugar and leave lactic acid in its place, creating tart and acidic qualities in beer.
“We sour our beers with intentional inoculation coupled with unintended organic fermentation that comes along with reused barrels,” says Douglas Dayhoff, the president at Upland Brewing Company in Bloomington, Indiana. “We inoculate our wood-aged sours with the combination of classic microbes—brett, Lacto, Pedio. This helps us gain a certain amount of control before embedded microbes in the foeders and barrels further develop the beer’s character over time. We’ve seen the embedded microbes in that wood actually help accelerate and create better fermentations.”
The mixed microbes that ferment Upland’s sours create complexity that can’t be achieved with basic ale yeast, Dayhoff says. “We shoot for multiple dimensions of flavor and aroma that reflect a balance of malts, microbes, fruits, flowers, and