TORONTO, ON – Burdock Brewery has announced the release of “an easy saison aged on Riesling lees.”

Lees (5.1% abv) is described as follows:

Lees (the beer) drinks like a bright rustic saison; pale straw in colour with lemon rind acidity, a pinch of dusty hay and trailing wisps of clove. We brewed Lees with mostly pilsner malt and Ontario wheat then aged it on Riesling lees from April to August 2020 in stainless steel.

Lees (not the beer) are what’s left over on the floor after a wine fermentation party and are essentially a huge mixed-culture of bacteria and yeast. They have lots of useful and magical properties that we thought might work well with beer, and it turns out we thought right! Because young lees are living there’s a ton of microbiology at play: you’ve got brettanomyces bringing the funk, lactobacillus/pediococcus bringing the acid, and saccharomyces bringing some fruity spice. The result is a pretty cool mixed-culture style saison that is bright with a side of rustic field grain character.

Lees is available now at the Burdock retail shop and online store.

Source & Photo: Burdock Brewery mailing list