Here I am again, writing about a beer that has been sent to me by the brewer’s people. So this is again my disclaimer that I’m describing a beer rather than pretending to review it objectively.
So it’s Sunday afternoon and I’m trying to coax one last session out of the grill before I finally have to replace the gas burner, which now has twice as many holes in it as it came with. Still, I was able to get some nicely done Italian sausage to got with a spaghetti dinner. What could make this a better day well maybe it might be the new beer from Two Brothers, a Biere de Mars Ale called A bretter DAY.
- After some quick searching, I can confidently say that what Two Brothers has made here is a variation on the Bière de Garde, a farmhouse ale which is brewed in the spring, then stored in cool cellars for the family and staff to quench themselves with during the warmer months. Bière de Garde usually runs 6%-8% alcohol by volume, so it’s not your old county’s lawnmower beer. The Bière de Mars is a lighter beer, meant be consumed instead of stored in the cool months (March = Mars, you see). “A bretter DAY” has the 5.5% abv of most summer beers, and in addition, it’s brewed with a blend of their house yeast and a strain of Brettanomyces yeast, which gives beer a sour funk. And my eyes hurt when I paste the strange UC/lc combo they’ve chosen for its name. I’m going all AP Stylebook on its alphabets and henceforth rendering it A Bretter Day.
What’s happening is that brewers have kind of saturated the market for bitterer and bitterer India Pale Ales, and have been trying to stake a claim to the next trend. One possible “next” thing has been sour ales, whether made with “acidulated wheat malt,” or left to associate with wild and funky Belgian yeasts. Most of these sours are still one-offs or special project, but Two Brothers has made theirs a summer seasonal, first rolled out during Chicago Craft Beer Week, and now available in six packs and presumably at the same price points as their other beers.
I am using the recommended glassware for the sour Berliner weiss, which is a tumbler. I don’t have a branded tumbler, so one from the cupboard will do.
This has a really noticeable tangy fruit smell right out of the bottle, like a Goose Island’s sour Sophie. The color is a little more substantial than other sour beers, which tend to be based on light wheat beers . The taste is quite full of pucker, maybe close to a sour cherry or green apple. There is also a bit of Belgian style funk to this, but likely it’s what they were deliberately shooting for. This also, however, has the backbone of slightly toasty Crystal malts that give this the feel of an actual beer. And while many sour styles are low in alcohol, this still hits the at 5.5% level of most megabrewed lawnmower beer. Do not expect your guests to slam down A Bretter Day at a weekend picnic. The tart still makes this a sipping beer, and expects you to pause for its own consideration.
