I haven't posted any links to my blog on this forum before, but I thought you guys would like the drawing my wife did to accompany the post: http://brewdogblog.com/2009/01/keepin-i ... iselensis/
Keepin’ it Wild (De Struise Struiselensis)
The Sturdy Brewers are making a lot of appearances on this blog, and for good reason — their beers are perfect. For my recent birthday, Brew Dog t-bone recently brought me back a bottle of De Struise’s Struiselensis from Philly’s so-close-yet-so-far beer Mecca The Foodery, and I was almost as excited (I won’t say more excited) about the De Struise beer he gripped for me as I was for the Bell’s, and if you know me, you know that’s saying a lot.
Struiselensis is more than the “normal†excellent beers that De Struise brews — it is a beer nerd’s dream. The label alone boasts both the name of the labaratory where the yeasts and bacteria were harvested (Wyeast), and the very varieties of flavor and aroma producing yeast and bacteria employed (Brettanomyces Bruxellensis and Pediococcus Cerivisae). So back to the old back and forth of cultural exchange — Belgian brewes trying to replicate Belgian styles by relying on American scientific expertise — amazing.
Struiselensis takes its name from a strain of Yeast which originates from the area around Brussells in Belgium where a lot of spontaneous fermentation still occurs. First isolated in Britian (hence the name Brettanomyces or “British Brewer’s Yeastâ€), Brettanomyces offers an alternative flavor and aroma profile of the prolific than the standard Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, of which both Ale and Lager types exist. “Brett Beers†aren’t Ales or Lagers if they are made with 100% Brett — they are just “Brett Beers.†I’ll be brewing one of these soon and will report here on how it comes out. When combined with Bacteria which are known to reside in the Barrels and Bottles of such brewing giants as Cantillon, Brett produces extremely complex, earthy beers which completely alter the landscape of Beer tastes, period. The Struise brewers apparently tried to spontaneously ferment this beer but found their atmospheric components lacking — hence the help from American Yeast Gods Wyeast.
A “Wild†or “Sour†Ale, Struiselensis pours golden and slightly cloudy, with a quickly dissipating white, fizzy head. Very carbonated as these beers tend to be, the mouthfeel is perfectly dry, complemented by an acidic, tart flavor profile that makes Struiselensis extremely drinkable. The aroma is hardly captured by the typical flurry of adjectives (â€earthy,†“horsey,†“citrusy,†“rotten,†or “leather,†for the record), but can stand to be a pretty decent benchmark for the Sour Ale category and Brett aroma in general (a more citrusy and less hoppy Orval is almost appropriate). An incredibly drinkable, scientifically miraculous, well-balanced, and yes, Sturdy beer, Struiselensis is a lesson, an experience, and if I had a keg of it in my basement I wouldn’t mind drinking it every night.
