Vallée Rustique got its start as Rustic Auburn Valley, a 100% Ohio-grown, dry-hopped Pilsner that was a collaboration between Little Fish and Wandering Monsters for Ohio Brew Week 2024.

This all-Ohio beer featured pilsner malt from Rustic Brew Farm in Marysville, Ohio, Comet hops from Auburn Acres Hops in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and Crystal hops from Ohio Valley Hops in Maineville, Ohio. After primary fermentation, part of the batch of Rustic Auburn Valley was side-streamed as a fun side-project, and a couple of strains of Brettanomyces were added, letting the secondary fermentation continue in stainless for a couple of months before packaging on August 8, 2024 and being released on November 22, 2024.

Vallée Rustique is described on the bottle as a dry-hopped Ohio Pilsner with Brettanomyces that was “inspired by those classic Brett beers of Belgium, and layered with rustic complexity.”

 

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It pours a slightly hazy but vibrant gold with a voluminous mousse-y white head and has a classic Brettanomyces nose–lots of fresh cut straw, loamy earth, spicy fresh-bent pine needles, and citrus pith that runs to pineapple.

Flavors follow the nose, with an herbal earthy woodiness up front that transitions into straw, citrus rind, and spicy Brett grime. There is currently just a kiss of hop bitterness left in the middle, but the Brett is working its magic on that as well.

The body is bone dry–this went from a 4.5% ABV Pilsner to a 5.6% ABV Bretted-Pilsner–so all that is left of the grain is a slight table cracker maltiness that fights to be heard as it rides across the back of the throat with the zesty bright carbonation in the swallow. There is also a slight paperiness in the final third, although not from oxidation. Rather, it is the bright carbonic bite and almost non-existent acidity mixed with the rustic, dry body of the beer. The slight bright sweetness in the finish pairs well with the lingering herbal pine-resin Brett funk.

This beer is firmly in the Little Fish wheelhouse, and small side projects like this let their creativity shine, so make sure you check it out before it is gone!

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