Against The Grain Bay And Pepper Your Bretts

Against The Grain Bay And Pepper Your Bretts is a Saison/Farmhouse Ale, 6.8% ABV. A beer brewed in collaboration with Josh Lehman, the Chef at Holy Grale. Although there is no specific information on the bottle, one can guess from the name what went into this. The website proved to be more helpful: brewed with Turkish bay leaves, coarsely ground Tellicherry black peppercorns and brettanomyces.

The aroma on this was a bit deceiving at first. When the wax dipped cap first came off it smelt terrible, just like moth balls. I double checked to make sure I wasn’t having some thing called Granny Panties or something silly like that. Thankfully it was just the wax and the beer itself smelled really good. Lots of big spice and a good bit of sweet tropical fruits, passion fruit in particular. The taste is missing a bit too much of that fruity sweetness, but I really like the combination of flavors on this a lot overall. Spicy, peppery, and a little herbal flavor from the bay leaf mixing with some very mild Brett funkiness.

I can see this not being for everyone, and I certainly liked it better than Lee or Raymond did. This was one of those unique beers that I find myself still thinking about a few days after drinking it. So glad I got to try it, thanks for sharing Raymond!