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Holy Goat Shrinebuilder: tasting note

Tasted 2026-02-21 · done

Isolated

Shrinebuilder bottle, Holy Goat Brewing: dark 375 mL bottle with a label showing a bird with a skull-like head perched on a skull, text panels either side Shrinebuilder, Holy Goat Brewing: super juicy golden sour, 5.6% ABV.

Impression

The smell of this beer is amazing; I could not get enough of it. This is the most tropical, flavour-forward beer I have tried, and I loved it. I find some of the Holy Goat beers a bit too aggressively acidic, mostly, I feel, from lactic acid, with only hints of acetic. The tropical aromas did not translate into flavour nearly as prominently, but they were there. If I could make a beer like this, I'd be happy, I thought.

The beer

Researched 2026-11-08 from published sources (numbered below), not the author's own observations.

Item Finding
Brewing Scottish malted barley, wheat and rolled oats; no fruit and no hops added [1][2]
Organisms Primary fermented with a mixed culture "including a blend of Brettanomyces strains isolated from Belgian Lambic producers" [1]; other members not public. The brewery's method is built on Brett and proprietary [3]
Fermentation and ageing Maturation typically three to four months, brewery-wide [3]; no barrel ageing stated for this beer
Packaging 375 mL bottle, bottle conditioned, 5.6 % ABV [1]; the 2025 release is listed at 6.4 % [2]

What it means for the bugs:

  • The tropical fruit is meant to come from the culture alone, with no fruit or hops [1]: the lambic-derived Brett is the obvious suspect [Med].
  • Brett should be alive in the bottle; a Saccharomyces partner is likely in a mixed primary [Low]; souring bacteria are implied but not named [Low].
  • Whether a separate bottling yeast was used is not public.
  • Releases differ (5.6 % and 6.4 %): the culture or recipe may have changed.

Sources: 1. Holy Goat Brewing: Shrinebuilder, Beergonzo (retailer, brewery description), accessed 2026-11-08. 2. Holy Goat Shrinebuilder 2025, Beer Shop HQ (retailer, brewery description), accessed 2026-11-08. 3. #148: The story of Holy Goat Brewing, The Brewers Journal podcast, 2024-09-06. 4. Shrinebuilder, Eebria Trade (listing), accessed 2026-11-08.

The bugs

As told by the brewery on the label: fermented with a mixed culture including a blend of Brettanomyces strains isolated from Belgian lambic producers, showcasing an intense yeast character without fruit additions or hops, with passion fruit, papaya, candied pineapple and apricot flavours.

Having messaged the brewery in the past, I knew a bit about their process, so I assumed the tropical flavours came from the Brett strains. Under the microscope, the dregs held Saccharomyces and Brett cells, plenty of debris and rod-shaped bacteria (single and in pairs). The full story is in the journey.

Decision

Isolated: Holy Goat Shrinebuilder - Brett, banked as a single mixed Brett culture (possibly two strains). Despite a lot of effort, I have so far been unable to recreate the pineapple aromas from it; given up for now, but I shall have another go in the future.