Beer #30 - W/C 21 September 2015
BREWERY //
"Beer that's been intentionally spoiled by good bacteria"
Wild Beer Co. started brewing beer in 2012 on a 120 year old family dairy farm in Somerset. The Wild in the name refers to their passion for using naturally occurring yeast strains to brew beer. Louis Pasteur discovered that yeast was responsible for turning wort into beer in 1866. Before that, vats of wort were simply left in the open and yeast would fall in and work its magic. Beers from different regions would taste different depending on which strains of yeast were present, giving beer a real sense of place. The Wild Beer brewers spend a lot of time collecting yeast and bacteria from the surrounding orchards and pastures and testing the effects they have on beers. They must have some tiny butterfly nets.
TASTING NOTES //
Millionaire is a rich and decadent dessert stout made with lactose, caramel, Valrhona cocoa nibs and a touch of Cornish sea salt. The small amount of lactose in milk stouts is a non fermentable sugar meaning yeast (even wild yeast) cannot convert it to alcohol. This is the yin to the yang of the sour Sourdough from Wild Beer Co. we drank last week and a great example of the range of the brewers. Millionaire has now been retired so be sure to savour it.
Are you into dessert beers? Can you detect the apple notes from the sour yeast? Be sure to let us know through Instagram, Facebook & Twitter #beerjerknz . Cheers!
BREWERY // Wild Beer Co.
BEER // Millionaire
STYLE // Milk Stout
ORIGIN // Somerset, England
ABV // 4.7%
TEMPERATURE // Cool. Around 10C
FOOD MATCH // Calamari. Fig Tartlets. Vanilla Ice Cream.
GLASS // Dimpled Mug. Schooner
Beer Style Blog - Read more about Milk Stouts and other beer styles over on the BLOG.