Saint Arnold Brewing Co. wraps up its Movable Yeast series with a twist on its India Pale Ale.

Bitter Belgian, an Elissa IPA pitched with Belgian Trappist yeast, goes on sale Thursday (Feb. 9) in a limited, draft-only release. It will be available during weekday tours at the brewery and at some bars and restaurants.

To make the Bitter Belgian, brewers used the same wort in two 60-barrel fermenters, adding the regular Saint Arnold yeast to one batch and the Belgian Trappist yeast to the other. Consumers are invited to try both, side by side.

Says Saint Arnold chief Brock Wagner:

I encourage everyone to start by appreciating the aroma, which is full of cloves with a grapefruit undercurrent. When you put it up to your mouth it is basically an explosion of flavor, full of malt, spice and hops. The notes from the Belgian Trappist yeast work very well with the big Cascade flavor.

Saint Arnold launched the Movable Yeast series in summer 2010 as a way to highlight the impact of beer’s unheralded ingredient on taste. The first in the series, Weedwacker, a Lawnmower kölsch pitched with Bavarian hefeweizen yeast, proved so popular that Saint Arnold now bottles it for year-round sales.

Next up were Altared Amber in November 2010 and Farmer Brown’s Ale in February 2011. At that point, the series was put on hiatus because of production demands at the brewery.

Bitter Belgian completes the experiment.

The brewery reports in a release:

Saint Arnold Bitter Belgian will not be bottled. It will start showing up on draft in select bars and restaurants throughout Texas at the end of next week, although some accounts may choose to hold off on tapping their kegs for special occasions. Supplies tend to last just a few weeks.

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