Mischief Gone Wild by The Bruery

Mischief Gone Wild. Hoppy Belgian-style Golden Strong Ale with Brettanomyces. The Bruery. Placentia, California.

Spring 2011.

My review on RateBeer:

3.7 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
AHTOH (62) - San Diego, California, USA - APR 17, 2011

750 mL. Poured into Bruery tulip.

APPEARANCE: Pours pure yellow gold. Slightly hazy. Big 3 finger head is white, rocky, has lengthy duration, and leaves some scattered patches of lace. Rocky head settles evenly, leaving some chunks of foam for some time.

AROMA: Almost equal parts Belgian yeast, hops, and brett. Malt character appears hay-like with a faint creamy sweetness. Hops are citrusy, with lime character appearing most prominent. Some subtle pine character to the hops as well. Mild spice notes smell of subtle coriander and a dash of black pepper. Brett adds a nice barnyard, horse blanket aroma. More malt sweetness comes through with strong swirl. Subtle earthy/wet hay element with an extremely faint hint of mild mushroom. Brett also seems to add an extremely faint hint of an aroma that is like band-aid flavored taffy – which some may find off-putting, however, because it is so mild I was neutral to it.

TASTE: Wet hay malt with barnyard character, Belgian yeast, light spice, and hops that appear to exhibit a lime character. Some light tartness that is lemony. Brett also seems to add a faint element of earthy dirt character. Finish has hop bitterness complimented by hint of mild brett tartness – quite an interesting interplay (ie, the contrast between the subtle tartness causing slight puckering on the front of the palate and the hops almost simultaneously causing bitterness on the back of the palate – really activates the tongue). Bitter finish extremely faintly resembles biting a dried lime peel.

MOUTH FEEL: Crisp – almost reminds me of Duvel Green (though Mischief Gone Wild is somewhat less quaffable due to the complexity as well as the higher abv). Lively carbonation. Medium bodied. Fairly dry finish. Extremely subtle alcohol.

OVERALL: Brett adds a pleasant rustic dimension, especially to the aroma. In a way, similar to some saisons. Aroma much more bretty than taste. Just a tad more bitter of a finish than preferred. Recently had Red Barn Ale (saison) by Lost Abbey on tap and for some reason this beer reminds me of it – except Mischief Gone Wild is much better and seems less sweet. Limey hops combined with the faint lemony tartness also somewhat reminds me of Bière De L’Amitié (Green Flash & Brasserie St. Feuillien), which has the most prominent lime character of any Belgian/Belgian-style GSA/Tripel I’ve tasted. To be honest, it is somewhat difficult to distinguish if the hop taste is lime-like or if the perceived lime character is, in part, coming from the mild citrusy tartness imparted upon the ale by the brett. Overall, complex and delicious.