Duality of Funk
Duality of Funk - 7.2% ABV
Bond Brothers Beer Company (Cary, North Carolina)
Brett IPA
New Year, New Beer, amirite?
This New Year’s Eve, I knew I wanted to kick things off with a cage-and-cork beer. Sure, we had a glass of champagne as the ball dropped because ~tradition~, but after that, I wanted to pop open a beer that felt fancy. So, I grabbed one of the Bond Brothers Beer Company beers my mom picked up in Cary, North Carolina.
Duality of Funk is a Brett IPA, fermented three times with the brewery’s house saison blend, then brettanomyces and then with orange blossom honey.
To start off, as I uncorked the bottle, it immediately started to bubble up and over the sides. Kind of fun on NYE, but no great when you don't want to waste beer. (Looking on Beer Advocate, apparently a few people had that issue, and my initial pour also had a lot of head that stuck around for a while.)
Once all of that settled down, though, I had a hazy, golden yellow beer with a clean, white head.
The nose had a funk to it, an earthy aroma that leaned toward grassy. It was more of a bright, green smell than the "farmhouse" smell of hay or anything like that. There were also a few tropical notes in the nose. That citrus bite reminded me of a lot of more “traditional” American IPAs, and it turns out that Simcoe is one of the dominant hops in this beer, which explains a little bit of the familiar scent.
The taste is a nice blend of saison and IPA. It’s got a slight bready/ earthy flavor of a farmhouse ale with the bite of hops at the end. The hops also give tropical, fruity notes that blend nicely with that hint of orange blossom honey. There’s a little spiciness to it as well, but I can’t put my finger on just what causes that.
The flavors all come together really well, and I’d say the name is spot-on. If you’re not a fan of farmhouse ales, you might not like how funky it is. But I’d still encourage IPA lovers to give this one a shot. It's a nice twist on a style that everyone seems to be experimenting with, and it ranks highly among the Brett/ Brut IPAs I've tried this year. Well, last year.
Overall rating: 4/5
P.S. If you think the funk will be too much, but want a good Brett IPA, I’d grab Beyond the Clouds by Monday Night Garage. It’s earthy/ bready flavors are significantly more subdued, and it leans more toward a New England IPA with more sourness.