Elderflower Beer

Again I find myself drawn to Bridge Road Brewers.

While not a beer drinker I couldn't go past trying something with Elderflower, it was always a favourite flavour growing up and I was really curious to see what it would be like with beer.

This is a 100% Brettanomyces brewed beer. What is Brettanomyces you ask? In the Australian Wine industry most winemakers would view having Brett (as its commonly called) in their wine as a fault. It is a non spore forming genus of yeast, and in the wild its found living on the skins of fruit. Brett can be introduced to a winery in the form of fruit flies or contaminated wine barrels and once in a winery it can be very hard and expensive to get rid of. Some of the flavours and notes produced by having Brett present is banyard, stables, earthy, grassy and depending on the ratios present it will depend on what comes through.

This article form VinePair has some great information about what Brett is and why brewers might put it in beer.

VinePair

"Mayday hills is a farmhouse beer project from Bridge Road Brewers. These beers are fermented in traditional wooden foedar tanks and reflect our township and the surrounding region. Mayday Hills.

Mayday Hills is a project inspired by a range of influences and experiences from around the globe and at home. Initially from wine and wine making 15 years ago, the through the exposure to sour and wild beer and barrel aging programs of Belgium, and further through new practices in the US craft beer industry and our own experimentation at Bridge Road Brewers.

Mayday hills aims to combine these experiences with local ingredients and influences in the creation of new and unique beer from our brewery in Beechworth." From Bridge Road Brewers Page

There is a very faint, fresh citrus note coming through when you smell this beer and it finishes on a light floral note. It has a really interesting taste. There is a slight hint of bitterness but nothing unpleasant and the organic floral profile is very strong and overpowers the bitter notes. The bitterness is more green, fresh cut grass bitter then something that would make your face screw up and the beer undrinkable. The elderflower really comes into play as an aftertaste, you don't get a lot of it at first but the more you keep drinking the more the flavour comes through. It is a very light beer and sweet, but not sweet in the sense that it is sugary, because the bitterness and malt level is so low it makes the beer appear sweeter then most without being sugary. I haven't tasted anything like this before and I ended up drinking all of it, normally I would struggle to have more then a taster but this was just so delightful and interesting I couldn't help it. I think I have finally found a beer I enjoy and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

The MayDay Hills label has some amazing additions to it and I really cant wait to try them.

Do yourself a flavour and give this a try!