De Wilde Brouwers - Oud Brood

Several brewers in both Belgium and the Netherlands are experimenting with food waste for ethical and environmental reasons, mostly with old bread; the Wilde Brouwers in Merelbeke near Ghent have of course an entire history of recycling waste, having attracted media attention some years ago by creating beer from recycled urine, so this one, the latest addition to their range, comes as no surprise. Thanks Jonathan! Mousy, pale yellowish beige, slowly dissipating but generally stable, medium sized head on a misty dark chocolate brown beer with ruddy-bronze hue. Aroma of dried fig, caramel, dried (indeed 'old') brown bread, dried apple peel, old nut shells, minerals, dust, old raisins. Dryish onset, fruity with aspects of fig and red apple, quite stinging carbonation, sourish undertone; bit resinous, hard-caramelly and indeed brown-bready body, ending in a dusty yeasty character, a tad 'dirty' (old nut shells) in the end even, remaining low in hop bitterness apart from a late earthy bitter note. The 'old bread' aspect is almost painfully clear in this one, but it is still an enjoyable, distinct and interesting beer with a rather unusual profile. I'm not completely convinced, though.