Odd Breed Wild Ales Brings Aged Sour Brews to Pompano Beach

It wasn't so long ago that Pompano Beach had no breweries. Now it's becoming a craft beer destination home to four breweries, the latest addition is Odd Breed Wild Ales.

Odd Breed will be located in Old Town Pompano, a part of the city currently undergoing revitalization. In fact, the 2,500 square foot space is actually being subleased the Community Redevelopment Agency, As such, even though it was approved by the city months ago, it was subject to the CRA's final approval, which came through June 21. 

No brewing will occur onsite, although Manthe will be utilizing the new space to create some of the wildest beers in South Florida, literally. Lacking an actual brewhouse, Manthe will focus on blending and aging beer. Many in the local beer community know Manthe as the brewmaster from Brewzzi in Boca Raton. Now, he's taking his talents to a new level with his own facility. 

What he's actually doing now is contract wort (essentially unfermented beer) production that he'll eventually ferment using a mixed culture of wild yeast and bacteria and aged in wooden barrels. 

In other words, Manthe is making sours, although he prefers to call them wild ales. The mixed culture contains at least 16 strains of Brettanomyces, multiple strains of Pediococcus (souring bacteria) and wild Saccharomyces. None of our beers will be fermented with lab purchased yeast or bacteria cultures.

Inside, a taproom will contain several taps to host the final product, including three flagships as well as guest beers from other breweries. There will also be outside seating. The flagships includes a saison, an easy-drinking, and slightly sour barrel-aged wild farmhouse ale made with imported Pilsner malt, spelt, rye, and oats; a wild pale ale brewed like a West Coast style, but fermented with the mixed culture of wild yeast and bacteria and aged in French oak barrels before dry hopping with Mosaic hops; and a Golden Wild Ale blended from multiple vintages of pale sour ales.

Many of the barrels Manthe will be using come directly from a winery in Napa Valley, California's northern wine country. Additionally, Manthe recently purchased nine puncheon barrels (three times bigger than a standard wine barrel) directly from Italy, which he says are currently on a boat crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The puncheons lend themselves better to beers that will be aged for a longer period of time, such as the Golden Wilde Ale. 

He also plans to produce a series of seasonal farmhouse ales, as well as some dark wild ales and one-off beers made with whole, local fruit and not puree. 

While some of the beers Manthe makes will have a level of tartness to them, that attribute is not the end all be all for him. Instead, he's aiming for complexity. 

"Souring is not the goal, it's really the complexity," Manthe says. "That's where blending comes in." 

Blended brews will be bottled with a cork and cap and aged on its side, similar to the Belgian producers Cantillon and Fantome. They'll then will be packaged in 750 milliliter Champagne style bottles, and some specialty batches will be packaged in 375 milliliter bottles.

Food will also be served. While it's not a place where you can enjoy a full meal, as there's no kitchen, tapas  like fermented vegetables, will be served. 

Even though no brewing will take place at this location, Manthe is considering the possibility of expanding to a full-scale production facility somewhere west in the Florida farmlands in the near future. 

While South Florida beer enthusiasts are constantly seeking out imported Belgians ales such as ones from Cantillon and Fantome, they'll soon be able to get similar style beers right here in Broward County.
 
"Our focus with Odd Breed is obviously to make the most high-end beer we can," Manthe says. "It'll be about the beer drinking experience, not just drinking our beers." 

Odd Breed Wild Ales is located at 50 NE First Street, Pompano Beach. Visit oddbreed.com.