Beer: Juxtapose
Brewery: Four Winds Brewing (Delta, BC Canada)
Style: IPA – American
6.5% ABV / 50 IBU

Brettanomyces does weird things to a beer like this. Case in point: I popped the tabs on cans from two different batches of Juxtapose and foam sprayed out of both like Faygo at an Insane Clown Posse concert. Brett is the culprit here for a phenomenon called “gushing,” where the wild yeast strain continues to ferment sugars in the can or bottle. This, in turn, promotes carbonation. So, if presented with a beer like Juxtapose, get ready to shotgun it or risk a third of it ending up in a puddle on your floor.

An intensely carbonated beer can be pleasurable from time to time. As a phenomenon, it’s not all that different from the hard seltzer craze, especially the hopped varieties. The mouthfeel is equivalent to a soft drink, too—tiny little bubbles that tickle the tip of your tongue. The difference is really in what the wild yeast strain does to the sugars; even poured against the side of the glass, Juxtapose yields a truly massive head. It’s particularly slow to settle, as well, and the foam residue stays on the side of the glass for what seems like forever.

This wild IPA from Four Winds Brewing is much better when consumed cold, although you really start to understand the interplay between the brett culture and the hops as it warms to room temperature. Juxtapose has just enough of the wild yeast to create a funky smell and add a lemon-y zip. Otherwise, it’s a West Coast style IPA through and through, with juicy tropical fruit notes and some bracing bitterness from the Simcoe, Amarillo and Columbus hops. Finding balance with a Brett IPA is particularly difficult, but Juxtapose hits all the right notes.

For more info, check out Four Winds Brewing here.