Back in May, Dock Street Brewing Company head brewer Vince Desrosiers聽聽of a beer-aging cask with聽rap group Wu-Tang Clan's iconic 鈥淲鈥 drawn on the lid. Affixed to the top of the wooden cask were two speakers playing聽and a song from Wu member Ol鈥 Dirty Bastard (鈥淒og Shit,鈥 it鈥檚 called).
Such began a six-month聽experiment in the effect聽of sonic waves on yeast during the聽fermenting process. Since April, when this particular batch of golden saison聽was barrelled, it's been under the influence of the Staten Island hip hop collective's songs playing on repeat. It's due to be ready at the end of this month.聽Desrosiers dubbed the brew 鈥淒ock Street Beer Ain鈥檛 Nuthin鈥 to Funk With.鈥
鈥淚t was more of our love for Wu-Tang and music than anything,鈥 says Desrosiers.聽鈥淎 lot of times when you use wild yeast strains in a beer, people call it sour,聽tart,聽funky.聽So I said, 鈥榊ou know what we should do鈥攚e should brew a beer called Dock Street Beer Ain鈥檛 Nuthin鈥 to Funk with, and make it a sour beer.鈥 And then for some reason, we actually decided to do it.鈥
鈥淏rewers do 鈥榬ouse鈥 the yeast on occasion, when it's getting sleepy, and it's well nigh impossible to sleep through some choice Ghostface Killah,鈥 says beer journalist聽Christian DeBenedetti.
Desrosiers had been wanting to produce a series of beers “based on the music I like,” he 聽earlier this year. Wu-Tang “seemed like a great place to start.鈥 In doing so, he hopes to discover something about how sound vibrations聽affect聽fermenting beer. Will聽the result be a pleasant new flavor, or a catastrophic waste?
鈥淚t started as a joke so we could play Wu-Tang for six months straight, but we started to wonder after if it would actually do anything,鈥 says DesRosiers. 鈥淲e read some stuff about labs growing different types of yeast, not specifically beer-related yeast, and vibrations actually caused higher growth volume.鈥 Desrosiers points to Will Meyers of Cambridge Brewing Company who uses tuning forks to stimulate yeast fermentation in his聽. As gimmicky as the technique may be,聽it could unlock new potential for our favorite craft beers.
鈥淭here's equal parts tangy showmanship and possibly-not-insane actual brewing science in play,鈥 says longtime brewer and beer journalist Christian DeBenedetti. 鈥淪ending vibrations through any alcoholic liquid as the yeast works away surely won't hurt. On the contrary鈥攂rewers do 鈥榬ouse鈥 the yeast on occasion, when it's getting sleepy, and it's well nigh impossible to sleep through some choice Ghostface Killah.鈥
The results of the experiment we'll know soon enough.聽The beer, with yeast strains known for their hints of orange and peach flavors,聽will be available for purchase online late September or early October, assuming you don鈥檛 live in a state that .聽And with Dock Street鈥檚 admirable reputation鈥攖he brewing company boasts multiple medals in the Great American Beer Fest, including a silver for its 鈥淟a Biere des Amis鈥 saison鈥攖here doesn鈥檛 seem to be any reason not to give the Wu-Tang beer a try.
Next up on Dock Street's playlist: hip hop duo聽Run the Jewels. DesRosiers has reached out to the group, and hopes to get them to attend a release event with one type of beer for each rapper. Tentatively, a light peach ale for Atlanta聽rapper Killer Mike, and a tobacco brown ale for Brooklyn rapper/producer聽El-P.
In the meantime, Dock Street is planning a release party for its Wu-beer later this month. (The rappers won't be in attendance.) Even if there isn't a noticeable difference in the experimental saison, Desrosiers says it will still have been worth it. “We鈥檙e definitely going to laugh at each other and say, 鈥楳an, you can really taste the Wu-Tang.鈥欌