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OverWorks is BrewDog’s Scottish house of wild fermentation and it’s separate from their production facility for good reasons. You see, wild yeasts are wild beasts and cross-pollination could wreak havoc on a Punk IPA.
Here’s the deal…
Wild yeast can create astounding complexity and delicious character in wild ales and mixed fermentation beers. However that same wild yeast introduced into a traditional brewing operation could turn into a disaster of Chernobyl proportions (well maybe not Chernobyl levels but definitely Three Mile Island).
And maybe not even a Three Mile Island levels, but a BrewDog 5am Saint Punk flagged for harboring a wild yeast character would most definitely put a stake in the heart of that batch. And a brewery would count itself lucky if that infection could be limited to just one batch.
Wild yeast is called wild for a reason…
Unintentional ‘infections’ can have explosive consequences once introduced… In addition to adding unwanted flavors to a beer, they can upset its carbonation resulting in exploding cans and bottles…and no one needs that.
BrewDog’s almost up-and-running OverWorks facility is taking almost Armageddon-like precautions to ensure that its soon-to-open alternative fermentation facility doesn’t lead to some sort of unplanned brewing meltdown.
To safeguard the security of their microbial charges BrewDog has installed a ‘decontamination chamber’ at the entrance of its OverWorks facility complete with antibacterial matting, a boot scrub and mandatory outfit change directives for brewers who might have come into contact with their mixed cultures.
Short of its brewers passing through a “Mission Impossible-esque, co2 blasting isolation zone, BrewDog is taking impressive steps towards protecting their wild yeasts and keeping the integrity of the much larger and more traditional production brewery relatively unscathed.
Because as we’ve explained, wild yeast is called wild for a reason…
H/T BrewDog blog
All image credits BrewDog
